


DIOPTAS

by Nagitier



Category: Monsta X (Band), VIXX, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Bondage, Brothels, Cat/Human Hybrids, Doctor/Patient, Dog/Human Hybrids, Heatpartner, Hybrid!AU, Knotting, M/M, Master/Pet, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Medical Examination, Minor Character Death, Organized Crime, Petparty, Prostate Milking, Public Humiliation, Secret Organizations, Sex Toys, Sex Work, Sexual Slavery, Slave auction, Sounding, dubcon, getting nipplepiercings, huge sex toys, light nipple torture, mention of emotional pain, mention of murder, mention of pain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2018-10-26 10:14:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 64,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10784787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nagitier/pseuds/Nagitier
Summary: This story takes place in a fictional city called Luoes, located in the country Aerok. Researchers have succeeded in breeding hybrids from human and animal genes which can be kept as slaves and which are condemned to fulfill every wish of their masters. But who cares about the feelings and dreams of these slaves? Is there anyone out there who can change the life the hybrids have been trained for?





	1. Examination

**Author's Note:**

  * For [namidahime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/namidahime/gifts).
  * A translation of [Dioptas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7600072) by [Nagitier](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nagitier/pseuds/Nagitier). 



> Summary: Yoongi is the owner of his first hybrid and Dr. Jung is said to be the best doctor in his field.  
> or  
> Doktor Hoseok does kinky stuff with hybrid!Jimin to show Yoongi his sexual quality... :D
> 
> This is the English translation of my German Dioptas fanfic. The first chapter is about BTS only, because it was planned as a one-shot first, but from chapter 2 on it turns into a multifandom story. Characters from all appearing groups may get important at some point in the story, some of them more, some of them less but the main focus will stay on BTS; VIXX and Monsta X.
> 
> I should mention before you start reading, that the endgame pairings of the story are not tagged yet. So if ur here to read for example a yoonmin story please note, that this isn't the main pairing... like at all. I will add pairings as soon as there is content between them in the text.  
> 
> English is not my first language and this is the first try at translating one of my stories. I'm sorry if some sentences may sound strange but I'm trying my best! Fighting! ;^;
> 
> This translation was only possible because my beautiful girlfriend namidahime helped me a lot! I love U <3<3<3<3

*+*+*  
Yoongi took a deep breath of the cool morning air as he got out of his father's car. His fist was tightly closed around a fine black leather leash as he looked up into the dazzlingly clear spring sky. He pulled on the leash and his wonderful new birthday present climbed out from the car behind him. "Text me when you're done, I'll send Kyungsoo to pick you up again.“ His father shouted from the dark inside of the car and Yoongi mumbled a low „Okay."

He had turned 24 a week ago and after lamenting at least three years about how he would like to have his own hybrid, his father had finally fulfilled his wish. They had just fetched his animal from merchant Lee and now he was happier than ever. Yoongi closed the car door and waved after his father as he set the turn signal and made to settled again in the flowing traffic of the city.

Finally, his first moment alone with his new achievement. Here in the bright sunlight, the other looked even better than in the cool halls at the venders place. Sure, his pet had flattened his ears to shield his sensitive hearing of the loud, unfamiliar sounds and the pretty blue eyes scrambled back and forth fearfully but Yoongi was completely overcome by the beauty of his hybrid.

At the moment he wore only a coat and shoes which Yoongi had brought with him, because the expensive animals were usually sold naked. In the city, however, undressed hybrids were not welcome. When the little one had first settled, Yoongi would buy him pretty clothes for trips to the city. At home, he would probably be completely undressed for most of the time, except for a collar. The hybrids were trained naked and most of them were not used to wearing clothes, at least his friend Namjoon had told him this once.

Yoongi turned his head and looked around. He had rarely been in this part of the city. It was just too loud and too crowded on the streets and he avoided crowds of people wherever it was. Today, however, he had no choice.

The doctor he wanted to see with his hybrid had his office in the upper class part of the city and that seemed quite logical to him since the pets were not cheap and only the wealthy lived in this district. The pavement around here was very wide and clean, there were no crowded trash cans or dog scat on the trails. In front of many shops lay elegant red doormats and the price tags in the shop windows could caused more than just a little queasiness for any middle class person.

But because most of the people surrounding him, were figuratively speaking, stinking of money, nobody stared at him while he was standing there with the leash in hand. Probably most of the people passing by on the sideway had at least one hybrid at home themselves so it was a common sight. In any ordinary part of town where a hybrid like his was a very rare sight, a bulk of people would have formed around him and his new pet in an instant. 

"Come on Jimin.“ he said in a strict tone, and the hybrid twitched. Yoongi frowned. His father had told him that he had to have a hard grip on them from the beginning, so that later on, he would be accepted by his hybrid as the alpha, but Jimin seemed to be a little overwhelmed with all the new impressions right now.

Yoongi cleared his throat and pulled his eyebrows together sympathetically. "You don't need to be afraid, I'm here to take care of you," he said calmly, cautiously stretching out his hand to gently pat the soft, dark brown hair of his animal. The hybrid pulled his head a little between his shoulders, as if he expected a punishment, but relaxed again as he realized that his master just wanted to soothe him.

Yoongi’s pet began to shiver, because of the fresh breeze and he went off. Jimin immediately followed with about a step distance. The trip was not far, it couldn’t be more than a few feet till they reached the office complex that held the doctors office. Once there, Yoongi briefly studied the many signs on the wall besides the entrance and nodded as he found what he’d been looking for.

He pushed the front door open and entered a small corridor with Jimin. As soon as the door fell shut behind them Yoongi sighed, relieved. Now it was almost deadly silent around them, as the door absorbed any street noise, and when he turned to Jimin, he noticed that his animal seemed much more relaxed than before.

He took the few steps through the short hallway until they reached an elevator. Of course he could have taken the dark tiled stairs to his left, but the doctor's office was, as he had just discovered, on the fourth floor, and well, what could he say?

He was lazy.

With a quiet pling sound, the elevator doors opened and Yoongi entered. Jimin hesitated first, but followed his master into the brightly lit cabin. A smile flashed across Yoongi's face as he peered proudly at himself and his new pet in the large mirror in front of them. He had to admit that they really gave a pretty picture together. They drove up the four floors, and when the doors reopened, there was a door in the corridor just in front of them, and a sign next to it with the words:

Doctor’s office  
Dr. H. Jung  
Medical practitioner for hybrid medicine

There were not many practitioners in the field of hybrid medicine, but this one had made quite a name for himself within a short time. Yoongi's father brought his two hybrid girls here for several months and was quite satisfied with the doctor, which is of course the reason, why he had recommended this practice to his son. 

As he opened the door to the office, the distinct unpleasant smell of steril disinfectant hit him, which was why he generally avoided doctors. Jimin behind him meowed softly and as Yoongi turned around, he just saw his hybrid go down on his knees. „No, no, please stop. I do not want you to crawl over the floor at the clinic, who knows what you could catch like this.“ He explained, and Jimin bit uncertainly on his lip, but obediently rose again.

They went through the door and were immediately stepping into a small reception area. Behind a counter sat a medical assistant with long dark hair and a friendly round face. The phone clamped between shoulder and cheek, she tapped something into a computer. "Thanks, Mr. Kim. Have a nice day.“ She said politely before she hung up and turned her attention towards Yoongi.

Yoongi had looked around a bit during the phone call. The office was just like any other he'd ever been to. Everything was white and sterile, on the walls hung prints of famous artists, and in the corners were green plants in large pots. He looked down at himself. In the entrance area in front of the counter was a large, noble looking, dark red carpet. Yoongi had not seen such a luxurious carpet before.  
He stepped closer to the counter and fumbled for the health insurance card of his hybrid, which he had received upon buying Jimin, from his coat pocket. "I made an appointment here a few days ago. My name is Min Yoongi, I'm here for the first time.“ He explained, handing the card to the woman. She glanced at the PC and then looked up. "The appointment was just around one, right?" she asked, smiling, and Yoongi nodded. "Please have a seat in the waiting area.“ She told him, making a welcoming gesture to her left.

It was not really a big room and there was no door, but it was enough to wait for a short time. Yoongi nodded, turned to the right and walked toward the few seats in the room which she had gestured to. There were only eight chairs that looked quite uncomfortable, in the middle of the room was a small round table situated with magazines on top, which looked as if they had never been touched and in the right corner stood a water dispenser right next to a wardrobe. Yoongi took off his coat and hung it on one of the hooks, before he also stroked Jimin's coat from the shoulders of his hybrid. It was unusually warm, presumably to make it as comfortable as possible for the sensitive animals, but nevertheless there were goosebumps visible on Jimin's arms and upper body.

"Are you nervous, little one?" Yoongi asked, patting the head of the hybrid gently. Jimin meowed softly and Yoongi smiled. "I do not like doctors as well, so we have something in common." Yoongi muttered, who sat down with Jimin and cautiously rubbed the space behind his fluffy ears. Jimin closed his eyes and he did not seem to be able to suppress a very soft purr.

Yoongi's chair did not even have the opportunity to really get warm, when the same medical assistant from before had been standing at the door to call him. "Mr. Min, the doctor is now ready for you." Yoongi stood up and she gave him back Jimins insurance card, as he walked past her through the door.

On the other side of the waiting room was a door half-open, which had previously been closed. He knocked a few times before he opened the door and entered the room with Jimin. Right behind the door, which Yoongi had not been able to see at first, was a big dark wood desk with a computer on it. In a shelf behind it were countless books about animal and human medicine to be seen, beside a glass showcase in which several awards were displayed in picture frames.

"Ah, welcome! So you are Mister Min Junior?" Asked a young man that just emerged from a small side door, wearing a doctor's overall, a delighted smile on his face. A little perplexed by the sudden, dynamic appearance, Yoongi could only stammer. „H- hello, yes that's me." The doctor did not seem to mind. Confident and still smiling, like a incarnation of a little sun, he held out his hand to him and pressed Yoongi’s tightly in return.“I heard you’d be here for the first time today with a new hybrid?“ The doctor asked, and Yoongi cleared his throat.

The man in front of him was as old as himself at best if not younger. He had expected to be faced with a middle-aged man who could look back onto years of professional experience but clearly not with someone who could have attended school at the same time as Yoongi. On the other hand, his father had never told him how old the doctor was, or how he looked, so it had all been Yoongi’s imagination running wild.

"Excuse me, but ... uh ... are you Dr. Jung?" He asked a little uncertain and the smile disappeared from the doctors's face, only to be replaced by a surprised expression before it morphed into utter embarrassment.

"Oh my, where am I again with my thoughts? Did not even introduce myself, did I?“ He said scratching the back of his head before tapping at his name tag and it was the first time since Yoongi had entered the office, that the doctors true age showed. "Yes, I am Doctor Jung Hoseok. At your service, Mr. Min. " he laughed a little exaggerated.

Yoongi had to suppress the urge to open his mouth. The man in front of him was in fact not an assistant but a real doctor. His cheeks turned pinkish with a blush at the thought of what the doctor might think of him now, so he tried to explain himself at least. "Forgive me, I just expected somebody a little bit... older."

Dr. Jung enjoyed an excellent reputation under the wealthy citizens that owned hybrids. There was no one around with as much knowledge of hybrid medicine and breeding than Dr. Jung. He was an expert on his territory and despite his reputation he seemed still down to earth and easy to get along with. The doctor laughed again, waving his hand in a dismissive fashion.

"Oh, no problem, I fear my reputation is ahead of my age, and nearly all of my clients are confused at first when they see me, questioning if I'm truly the doctor they wanted to see or just a doctor in training." He held out his hand again with a smile. „Besides I maintain a very personal and close relationship with my clients, so if you’d be fine with it I’d like you to call me Hoseok and not Dr. Jung.“ Yoongi stared in utter amazement at the bright face in front of him, then took the doctor's hand a second time. He thought it was very strange that he offered him such a personal connection just yet but taking their most probably small, or inexistent age gap into consideration, he guessed honorifics were unnecessary anyways. "Yoongi," he said as he spoke the doctors hand gently, and Hoseok spoke a melodic: "Very pleased." [1]

“So, what can I do for you, Yoongi?" The doctor asked, and Yoongi took a step sideways to present his hybrid. "This is Jimin, I just picked him up at the merchant and wanted to get a check up from you before I ... well." Yoongi's face glowed instantly, but Hoseok only winked at him knowingly. "Understand. Understand. No reason to be ashamed, we all know what people usually buy their hybrids for."

He turned around, went to the metal table in the middle of the room and patted the surface with his hand. "Take him off the leash and let him sit down here.“ Hoseok instructed before he went to his desk. Yoongi led Jimin closer to the examination table, opened the snap-hook on the collar, and Jimin jumped on the table without further request.

"Oh, he listens very well for a ... oh my god!" Hoseok almost dropped the device in his hands when his eyes fell on Jimin for the first time. "You own a Dioptas?" He asked with an astonished look on his face but Yoongi just shook his head in return."No, he's just a Citrin, why?" The doctor crossed thoughtfully the arms over his chest."Yeah, that told me the file, which my assistant handed me, so I was just ... you know it doesn’t matter.“ he explained, made a dismissive hand movement and shrugged.

"You know, actually only Dioptas have blue eyes. Under those hybrids that are unable to speak, this eye color is very rare." Yoongi glanced at Jimin and opened his mouth in surprise. "That means, all people will think I have enough money to buy me a Dioptas just because Jimin has blue eyes? I like that thought!" He chuckled softly and looked at his new pet even more eagerly.

Hoseok walked around the table and held the strange device in his hands at Jimin's neck. It peeped three times quietly before the doctor took it away again. Yoongi found that it looked similar to the barcode scanner at the supermarket, but this one had a screen on top. The doctor studied the data on the device.

"Strange," Hoseok said, reaching for his chin. „What’s so strange?" Yoongi asked, but the doctor just shook his head again. "I guessed at first glance that they have used the genes of a Bombay on him, because of his fur coat you know, but apparently he possesses the genes of a big cat. This is also very unusual for a Citrin."

Yoongi, who had absolutely no clue about such things, shrugged. When he first saw Jimin at the merchant a few weeks ago, it was love at first sight. Jimin simply had everything he had ever dreamed of when it came to his hybrid.

Dark brown, very soft, smooth hair, light blue eyes, a full, beautifully curved mouth, and a cute little nose adorned his face. The body was above average well-trained and the skin darker than most of the nobles would prefer, but Yoongi himself had skin as white as paper, so in his opinion his pet could be the complete opposite of himself. He was always fond of those hybrids of his friends and acquaintances who had a darker complexion.

“Are wildcat genes more expensive than those of domestic cats?", Yoongi asked, his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on Jimin. The fur of Jimin's ears and fuse was black and short. Which was good because he wouldn't leave as many hairs on Yoongi's white linen as when he’d have a longer fur, when they’d tousle the sheets together.

The fuse of the hybrid was at the moment drawn fearfully between his legs, and his ears were still flattened out against his head. Probably the sterile smell of the office was still not very pleasant for Jimin's sensitive nose.

"Yes, because they are harder to get. Jimin has the genes of a black puma, which are extremely rare and spread only on the other side of the earth." Hoseok explained and Yoongi nodded. "Then the horrendous price that Mr. Lee wanted for Jimin at first makes sense, I think," Yoongi began. "When we went to the store for the first time, I only had eyes for Jimin, but when the merchant told us the price, we left again because it was so ridiculously high. Father told me that this amount of money could in no way be justified for a simple Citrin hybrid. I thought I was not going to get Jimin, but then the merchant contacted us and made a better deal just a few days later." The doctor put the device aside briefly. "I see." He simply said in regard to the story and went over to a cabinet to his right.

He reached into a drawer and pushed two disposable gloves on. "Before I start with the actual examination, I'll draw a little bit of blood. The test results will only be available in a week but don’t worry, you will be able to have fun with him beforehand. The blood tests are only about checkin in on his values. The danger of a disease that you can be infected with is actually zero." He shot a quick look at Jimin's hip before he explained. "He has the brand of the Bangtan school, only the most prestigious schools are allowed to brand their animals and they have strict requirements and guidelines to live up to. I do not think that Jimin is missing something, but an additional check up of his blood certainly does not hurt.” 

He took an empty syringe in his hand, cleaned Jimin's arm, and placed the needle directly over his vein. "Do not worry it will not hurt if you keep still. Look at your master, that will distract you." Jimin nodded and did as he was told, and the doctor pierced the skin with the needle and drew the blood carefully from the hybrid. He put the full cannula in the lab and put a small band aid with colored cat paws on the small puncture after he had pressed a ball of cotton there for a moment. "That was very brave, well done.“ The doctor praised Jimin and his eyes gleamed joyfully as Hoseok patted his head.

He went back to the PC with the strange scanner and typed in some things Yoongi couldn't see. "I have just downloaded his data. Looks like his vaccinations have all been recently refreshed. I wouldn't have expected anything else from Bangtan school to be honest, they are very carefully dealing with the breeding and training of their hybrids. But ..." Hoseok went to a closet and took out a small black casket. "There is perhaps something else I can show you." He came to Yoongi with the small box and opened it right in front him. It contained tiny syringes filled with a red-ish liquid.

"This is a completely new aphrodisiac called Dionysos, which has been specially developed for cat hybrids. It lasts for a few hours, which means I could give it to him now, if you do not mind and you will have much more fun with him later at home. Usually, hybrids are very nervous before their first time with their new master. This injection makes him more sensitive to all possible sensations be it pain or pleasure. There are clients who give it to the hybrids just before sex or before a punishment. How ever you want to apply it, of course, is completely left up to you," explained Hoseok and Yoongi took the casket to himself.

"What happens if you use such a syringe as a human?" He asked, eyeing the needle skeptically. "Absolutely nothing. The active ingredients targets the genetic sequence that is responsible for the heat cycle of animals and increases the distribution of various hormones related to it. Since humans do not have a sequence for a heat cycle in their DNA which means it does not take any effect. Maybe you will get a little sick, nothing too serious, because your body can’t process it."

Yoongi nodded understanding, and after a brief glance at Jimin, he said. "Okay, I want to see how he reacts to it." Hoseok smiled. "You can decide after the examination, if you want to buy it to use at home. You should never use more than one syringe every three weeks, otherwise Jimin's natural heat cycle will get manipulated." He took out one of the small syringes and went back to Jimin. The hybrid looked rather uncertain, but kept quiet as the doctor cleaned a place on his upper arm with disinfectant and gave him the injection. "The effect starts after less than five minutes. I'll just start with the examination in the meantime, we'll notice when the aphrodisiac starts to work."

He started the examination by checking Jimin's eyes. He lit a small lamp alternating between both eyes to see if the pupils dilated and diminished according to the light conditions.

While doing so he went ahead to explain a little more about Jimin. "His eyes are blue, that means he is exceptionally intelligent even for a Citrin. Most hybrids in this class can be taught to speak. Even though it might take some time. He will listen very well to your words, because he understands the human language on a higher level. So you can tell him about all your problems, if you want. He may not answer or give you advice, but let's be honest, sometimes it's a great help already when you can simply talk about problems to someone." The doctor laughed softly. "Canidae are usually more attentive and loyal. There's always something rebellious in felidae hybrids, you'll need a little more time for Jimin until he trusts you completely." Yoongi nodded in understanding and the doctor continued with the examination.

A slight pink glow started to spread on Jimin's cheeks as the doctor examined the auditory canals with the otoscope. "Well, well. You're very sensitive as it seems, are you Jiminie?" The doctor asked, scratching the hybrid behind his ears as Jimin looked ashamed down at the hands which were resting in his lap.

"Perhaps the aphrodisiac started to work?" He looked once more in Jimin's eyes. "Ah, yes, it already works. As you can see Yoongi, his eyes are now all glassy and the pupils are dilated." Hoseok gently stroke with one finger down from Jimin's shoulder to his wrist, and Yoongi was astonished that all the fine hairs of his hybrid were standing on edge and goosebumps were rising all over his skin.

"The remedy is very potent, if he wants to touch himself unauthorized after you have administered it, you can correct him but you should refrain from a hard punishment. He feels now, as if he's drunk, he is not quite master of his senses. No matter how well trained a hybrid might be, he can’t escape the effect of this drug."

Yoongi frowned because of the word 'drug'. "Can he become hooked on this ‚drug‘?“ He asked worried. Hoseok shook his head which caused relief to flood Yoongis body. "Although the aphrodisiac is relatively new on the market, there are studies showing no long-term damage or addiction for hybrids. It doesn’t contain any substances that could make him addicted. Perhaps the word 'drug' was not the best choice, I did not want to worry you, I'm sorry."

The doctor walked around the table and exchanged the otoscope against a jaw spreader. "Open up boy!" The doctor said, and Jimin opened his mouth obediently so that he could push the tool in between Jimins spread lips and open it wide. As soon as the locking screw clicked shut Jimin could no longer close his mouth and the doctor could take his time in controlling the teeth of the hybrid.

"Very nice, his teeth are in excellent condition," the doctor told Yoongi after a long examination and he nodded contentedly. Hoseok took the jaw spreader carefully out of the animals mouth again and Jimin looked at him gratefully. His jaw started to ache already after the short examination, because he had had to open the mouth so far. Hoseok caressed the hybrid lovingly on its head. "That was certainly unpleasant, was it not, little one?" Jimin meowed in agreement, but happily closed his eyes while Hoseok tugged softly at his left ear.

"As you have just seen, Jimin as a cat has very long canines. This can be quite unpleasant in certain sexual situations. There is the possibility to cut the teeth back in a small surgical procedure if there might occur any problems."

Hoseok did not look at Yoongi while he told him that casually, and Yoongi was secretly happy about it. Just the simple thought of which sexual practice might interfere with Jimin's teeth, had once again flushed his face a bright pink color. Why did his hybrid had to have such a sensual mouth?!

While Yoongi fought the images off in front of his mind's eye Hoseok had turned the head of his hybrid to the side, exposing his long neck easily. While the doctor pointed at his neck he carefully pulled the broad collar aside a little. "Do you see these spots on his neck here?" He pointed to the region just above Jimin’s pulse point, which had a diameter of about three centimeters. Yoongi leaned forward and finally nodded after investigating it. The spot was not really moist, but the texture of the skin appeared smoother and therefore shone a little.

"These are his scent glands. He has it in several places on the body, but only on the neck are they so clearly visible and that is very important. We do not perceive the smell from these glands, but Jimin will most probably rub himself against every available surface in your home in the first few days so he can mark his new territory out. You should let him walk around the rooms he will mainly be staying in without a collar for a few days."

Hoseok brushed his thumbs gently over the place on Jimin's neck and the hybrid sighed softly, closed his eyes and shuddered slightly.

"He is very sensitive there, the throat is an erogenous zone for hybrids like it is as well for humans. If he is too dominant during your nightly activities, it may help to bite his neck. This will make him become more submissive. It's like a reflex. The animals from which most hybrids get their genes from carry their young by a bite in the neck from place to place. It is deeply anchored in their biology that they keep still while being bitten. You could certainly breed hybrids without this reflex but so far the scientists have decided against it. "  
Hoseok laughed softly as he glanced over Yoongi's shoulder and winked at him, where upon his face flushed again. Yoongi slowly concluded it gave the other a perverse pleasure to tease his clients like this. However, all the information that the doctor gave him were also quite helpful in handling Jimin.

He knew only two people in his circle of friends or family which had a hybrid themselves. His father and Namjoon his best friend since children's days. But to be honest, he would be reluctant to have very detailed chit chats about sexual activities with hybrids with either of them. In addition, his father had two female hybrids and as he had heard they were very different from the male ones. And Namjoon had a Canidae hybrid, which also differed greatly from his own.

"This spot is also particularly important for the so-called 'bonding' between two hybrids, but we get to that when Jimin had his first heat. He's still young, if you're lucky, you'll have to take care of this problem next year or even later. When it's time, I'll tell you more about what it's all about, you do not need that whole input right now."

He let his hand once again wander down Jimin's arm and finally took one of the hands of the hybrids into his. "You have to be careful to trim his nails regularly. They grow faster and are much harder than those of humans. Otherwise Jimin could leave very unsightly scratch marks on your body. This length here…“ He showed Yoongi Jimins hand. "Is ideal. If you cut it down to this length every week, you will not have any problems with it.”

Hoseok tucked the stethoscope into his ears and pressed the round device on Jimin's chest. "Now, please take a few deep breaths Jimin." The hybrid opened his mouth slightly and sucked the air into his lungs. The doctor listened to him at certain points on his chest and back as Yoongi knew of his own doctor's visits. Finally, Hoseok took the plugs back out of his ears and simply let the gadget dangle around his neck again. "All right~ now we are getting to the interesting part.“ He said again with this happy melodic tone of his.

He dropped his hands on Jimin's bare chest until he carefully touched his nipples. He stimulated the buds until they erected. Jimin escaped a tremulous whine because he had always been very sensitive at his nipples and due to the aphrodisiac the touch felt so much better. His cock twitched even though he was not yet hard but it was only a matter of time until that would change.

"Oh, he's unusually sensitive.“ The doctor said absentmindedly, opening a small drawer beside the table, reaching for a painful looking clamp. He fastened the clamp to Jimin's right nipple and watched as the hybrid pinched his eyes closed because of the sudden pain. Dr. Jung nodded and fastened the second one to the other nipple. Jimin meowed pitifully, but kept as still as possible. Hoseok turned on the screws until the hybrid wriggled under his hands, whining loudly. "Extremely sensitive. Maybe you should think about getting his nipples pierced," He said, giving Yoongi a promising look. He played with the clamps a bit. Usually he passed this 'sensitivity test' quickly, for most hybrids it was unnecessary torture but Jimin seemed to like the painful treatment quite secretly.

“Do you see how much the pain arouses him? He will react very well to nipple stimulation. Nipple torture would also be an excellent punishment method for him." As to prove it, Hoseok once pulled on the right clamp and Jimin gave a loud, pain filled scream. "I think he has been sensitized on his nipples as soon as his trainer had noticed how sensitive he is. Am I right, Jiminie?" The doctor asked the hybrid this question and looked at him smiling. Jimin nodded shyly. His cheeks were cute pink, the eyes moist of oppressed tears, and his breathing went much faster than normal. Hoseok considered briefly whether he should leave the clamps at Jimin's nipples, but then decided against it. Carefully he took both clamps off again and Jimin's mouth escaped a loud tormented groan as the blood flowed back into the maltreated buds and made the pain unbearable for a moment. "Good boy, you were very brave.“ The doctor praised him again, and Jimin purred briefly when his head was repeatedly petted.

Hoseok let his hands wander down the upper body of the hybrid. Jimin was unaccustomed muscular, most of the hybrids he had examined so far were more boyish because they sold way better especially when the pets were bought for sexual gratification. The fact that Yoongi had deliberately chosen a more muscular lover, revealed a lot about the preferences of Hoseoks new client without him even knowing.

On the left side of Jimin's hip was the brand, which marked him as a perfectly trained hybrid of Bangtan school. Only the best and most attractive students got such a badge burnt into their skin. The less promising hybrids often got only a tattoo as soon as the training was completed and were then auctioned on big slave markets. Hybrids with a branding were automatically of much more value and were either sent to suitable buyers, either immediately from the school or from small intermediaries.

The emblem of the Bangtan school was round and had a diameter of almost five centimeters. Inside the circle were two revolvers, which were crossed and a cartridge between them. The brand was still fresh, presumably only two or three weeks old, and the skin was still slightly reddened, but it healed well. He really did not want to know how much money Mr. Min's senior had to put on the table for these hybrid.

Hoseok's hand wandered further down and grabbed Jimin's testicles. Carefully, he rolled them between his fingers and watched how Jimin's cock twitched as he tapped his ball sack. "His testicles are fully functional, I could change that if you want it. I do not like to castrate hybrids, but in some cases it can’t be helped, if they don't behave for example. After all, we don’t want it to result in unintended pregnancies on contact with the females of your father, right?"

Hoseok winked at Yoongi and the latter nodded grimly. "My father would have preferred I had not taken a Felidae, so we could avoid this problem at all." Hoseok laughed softly. "Yes, he is probably right, but it would be even worse if both of you had Canidae, the problem with unintentional fertilization is much more common with them than with Felidae."

Yoongi nodded seriously at the doctor's words. "I think I want to leave his testicles intact. When he is castrated, he can no longer…“ He stopped and cleared his throat nervously. "Ejaculate, right?" Again he felt the redness rising in his face. To say something like this out loud, was pretty embarrassing. How many of his kinks had he already revealed the doctor indirectly, without really wanting it?

"Unfortunately not.“ Hoseok confirmed. "Should he behave unrighteously, you can still think about letting him castrate though. Or you might have to lock him up with something like this." He snatched something out of one of the many drawers and came to Yoongi with a metal cage in the form of a penis. He took it interested and turned it around in his hand.

“A cage like this also prevents him from satisfying himself without permission, in case you are not around all day. Chastity belts like this made of metal are very popular, they are available in all sizes. Among them there are also special types that work, for example, with electricity, to use them as a punishment, if you understand?"

Hoseok could not prevent to wiggle titillatingly with his eyebrows. Jimin flattened his ears and stretched himself a little, so he could be able to see the metal thing in the hand of his master better. Yoongi swallowed nervously and moistened his lips with his tongue.

"I'm always amazed seeing what's already available on the market to buy for hybrids.“ he admitted, and Hoseok laughed. "To be honest, these chastity devices have not been invented for hybrids but for men who want to have their orgasms controlled by their partner. You can research this on the internet if you want, it’s really an interesting topic."

Yoongi looked more closely at the metal cage. "So you get these things everywhere, and not just in the overpriced shops for hybrid accessories?" He asked, puzzled and Hoseok made an agreeing sound. "If you order such a thing in an ordinary sex shop on the Internet, you will get it much cheaper." Yoongi gave the cage back to the doctor and then folded his arms again.

"Good to know, thank you for all your tips," he said sincerely, and Hoseok again gave him one of his dazzling smiles. "Its nothing, really.“ He waved. "I prefer it if my clients use these devices on their hybrids, more than perform surgery on them. The lack of testosterone after castration almost always changes the character of a hybrid. Of course, some customers may find that they are calmer and less aggressive, but I had the case as a client was completely disappointed and sold his hybrids to a brothel, because he had become too submissive in his opinion."

Yoongi opened his mouth in horror. "How awful.“ He said in a strong touch of compassion and Hoseok turned his face into a grimace. "Yeah, such a drastic measure hit me deeply. Since then, I have been performing surgery only on extreme cases and always try to discourage the client from doing so."

Jimin, who had been listening to the whole conversation, let his ears hang, and meowed softly as he saw the sad expression on his master's face. Yoongi looked up and had to smile involuntarily as he looked into the big beautiful eyes of his hybrid. "Do not worry, no matter what happens, I would never sell you to a brothel.“

He stood right next to Hoseok, to be able to stroke Jimin's head briefly. "Jimin will certainly have a good time with you," Hoseok said happily, and Yoongi nodded. "I will do my utmost. Of course I bought him for my personal pleasure, but he is and remains a living being."

"I wish all my clients would think like you.“ Hoseok said and he seemed somehow depressed for a moment. Then the doctor shook his head briefly. "We should go on, otherwise we'll still be here tomorrow."

He laughed briefly before turning on his heels and walked to one of the cabinets behind the examination table. He pulled up a long drawer and came back with a small box. When he opened it, there was a row of thin metal bars, ranging in the thickness, from thinner than a chopstick to thicker than a little finger. He pulled one of the thinner bars out of the holder and placed it next to Jimin on a paper towel. "With this, I will examine whether his urethra is free from irritations." He explained.

The doctor dribbled lube on his right hand and placed it gently around the erection of the hybrid. He stroked him a few times slowly and felt Jimin's cock twitch and pulsate in his hand. He pulled the foreskin back and released the pink, slightly shining glans. "It is rare that a well trained hybrid still has his foreskin. Its because of this that the entrance of his urethra is particularly sensitive, do you see?" He rubbed his thumb slightly over the glans, stimulating the small opening slowly, watching as it pulled itself together.

Jimin took a deep breath, and held on to the edge of the table, he arched his back to get more of this contact, his body wanted more of this wonderful feeling. They had told him it was strictly forbidden to touch himself and he had last been milked over a week ago. Most hybrids were stimulated for several times over the course of a week before they saw their new home and master for the first time, of course without being allowed to come. This was to make sure that the hybrid was looking forward to the first time with their new master. The more frustrated and excited a hybrid was after they had been sold, the easier it was for their new master to have sex with them for the first time.

After Jimins cock was completely hard by the stimulation, Hoseok next picked up the metal sound and coated it generously with lubricant. "Do you have any experience with sounding, Jiminie?" The doctor asked a direct question at the hybrid and he shook his head, his eyes fixed on the metal rod in Hoseoks hand. "Well, you have to keep still now, it will feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but if you do not make jerky movements, it will not hurt, okay?"

He saw how Jimin swallowed nervously and then devoted himself to the task at hand. Slowly the doctor led the sound to Jimin's urethra and stimulated the small opening. Jimin sighed softly and watched what Hoseok would do next with the small tool. Hoseok was highly concentrated. He had to be very careful, so he took his time with the whole procedure. Again and again he pulled out the sound, only to put him a little further into the urethra. Until the whole bar had disappeared inside of Jimins erection.

When the rod was completely inside, Jimin groaned and threw his head slightly into the neck. Yoongi could see the pointed canines well in the open mouth of his little darling. "It looks pretty painful.“ He murmured slightly worried. "If you do it right, it does not hurt, but feels quite good. At first you feel quite full, it pushes a little bit, but the opening is stretchy. It is similar to anal intercourse. As long as you take your time and be careful, its just uncomfortable for a moment and then it begins to feel really good."

Jimin could barely suppress the very cute sounds that stole his lips, sometimes a quiet whimper then again a loud groan, whenever the sound felt particularly good. He felt the metal stick swinging up and down inside his erection, causing a explosion of feelings in his body. Lubricant trickled out around the sound from the tip and Yoongi looked over to the box with the other bars.

"Will you try a even bigger one on him?" He asked curiously, but Hoseok shook his head. "No, this is not necessary and for a beginner like Jimin, the other bars would certainly be rather unpleasant. It takes a little workout until they feel good, too. Jimin seems to like it very much, I could show you how to do it right, if you want to try it yourself sometimes." He moved the sound up and down a few times before he finally pulled it out and put it on the paper towel again, which immediately absorbed the liquid attached to it. "His urethra is as free as expected, I can’t find anything troubling."

He knocked on the table next to Jimin. "For the last examination we have to change positions Jimin. On your knees and elbows, please." Jimin hesitated only a fraction of a second before swinging his legs, which had previously bounced down from the table onto the metal plate and turned around so that he could take the desired position. "Very good, you really are very obedient.“ Hoseok praised the hybrid again and gently stroked his back. "If it is more comfortable for you on the hard table, you can also lie down and shift the weight to your shoulders." Hoseok said to Jimin, and he meowed as a sign that he had understood what the doctor told him.

The doctor put a sterile small bowl under Jimin's erection on the table. Then he circled him until he stood directly behind the hybrid. Hoseok enjoyed the wonderful prospect before him for a moment. Of course he had to show a certain professionalism as a doctor but he had to admit that Jimin really was a feast for the eyes and that it did not go completely unnoticed to have the pretty boy to be on display like this in front of him. Yoongi had really made a good choice, he would certainly have a lot of fun with his hybrid and Hoseok envied him about it. Many of his patients left him completely untouched, but Jimin was definitely something special.

He pulled Jimin's cheeks apart and gently stroked the ring of muscles of the hybrid. From the outside there was nothing to complain about, the rosette was wonderful pink and the muscle ring tightly closed. Hoseok dripped some of the cool lubricant on the opening, watching as it pulled together further and twitched. Cautiously he pushed a finger completely into the boy and felt the walls of muscles tightly around him. "I will now stimulate his prostate, we need a sperm sample for the laboratory." Even more cautiously, he introduced a second finger into the trembling boy, because he didn't want to stretch Jimin's opening too much.

Jimin was in a state of devilish pleasure. He moan loudly as he felt the doctor push a second latex-covered finger into him and he tightened his muscles to push the intruder out again, but with little success. The stretching burned a little, he had already felt two fingers in him before but this experience had been a long time ago. His trainer had made sure that he stayed tight and never put in anything bigger than the size of two fingers.

The aphrodisiac also made sure that everything felt much better and more intense. His cock jerked, and when the doctor touched that one wonderful spot in his inner, he felt like he might cum at the very same moment. But he was not sure if he could come without the permission of his master. The doctor touched the point again, slowly began to massage it. Jimin felt like dying. He was alternately hot and cold and he somehow didn't get enough air into his lungs because he groaned and screamed at the same time. His hip pushed helplessly into the air, but the friction he needed to reach his goal was nowhere to be found. It was not the first time that he had to come through the massage alone, but it took significantly longer to the climax without additional stimulation on his erection. And it was so much more torturous this way.

"You almost done little one.“ Hoseok said, and gently stroked his buttocks with the other hand. "He responds very intense to prostate stimulation. He has certainly been milked on a regular basis. If you're going to sleep with him, you do not have to milk him additionally." He glanced at Yoongi, seeing his cheeks redden again. "If you, what I don't think, didn't want to have fun with him, I'd milk him every two weeks, especially after getting his first heat. Milking hybrids on a regular basis ensures that the heat phases are not so strong. But as I said, having sex with him shows the same result." Yoongi frowned and looked at the doctor inquiringly, somehow he just didn't get this whole heat thing.

"How often do these heat phases actually occur? I must admit I don’t know much about it.“ He confessed insecure. The females of his father had their cycle every three months, but he had not known that male ones had a heat cycle, too. He tried to remember if Namjoon had told him something, but he couldn’t remember.

Hoseok thought for a moment, rocking his head. "As soon as he is in heat for the first time, it will usually return every five months. But as I said, I can tell you more about it as soon as it is time. You must come and see me with him anyway, as soon as his first heat cycle becomes apparent." Yoongi looked at the other questioningly and chewed on his lower lip. "And what makes it noticeable?"

"Oh, I really can’t tell you this, because hardly any first heat is the same. His pupils are then most likely dilated, just as now by the aphrodisiac. Because it creates a kind of 'artificial' heat, however without the high fever that occurs only with the natural heat. Besides, he will try to put a hand on himself even if you forbid him to do so. He has no control over what he is doing, you should get him here as quickly as possible. His animal instincts take over his body at this time, which means that he can react aggressively even to you. This is very likely to happen, as he has genes of a big cat." Yoongi head was already swimming with all the information he got. He had known that it took a lot of responsibility to own a hybrid, but he just felt a bit overwhelmed at the moment.

Jimin meowed loudly and wiggled slightly with the butt to get attention. Yoongi cast a surprised look at his hybrid. His pupils were dilated and he breathed heavily. The ears were flatten, and the fuse was more bushy than normal, and jerked at irregular intervals. The poor hybrid was definitely nearing his climax.

"Ah ah, so impatient, Jimin. I’ll continue don’t worry.“ Hoseok laughed, giving Jimin a light, not really painful slap on the butt with his free hand. He curled his fingers to exert more pressure on the nerve bundle and massaged it vigorously. The sounds that Jimin elicited sounded like music in his ears. The boy, as if he wasn’t the epitome of perfection already, had a really beautiful voice. Bright and clear. Yoongi would most likely have a lot of fun making him sing.

"Yoongi, you have to give him permission to come." Hoseok whispered to him, and Yoongi looked at him puzzled. Jimin did not know where his head was anymore. He was trembling with pleasure all over. The doctor's fingers in him gave him incomparable satisfaction, even though his cock desperately shouted for attention, burning and throbbing.

"Jimin, you can come.“ Yoongi said, his voice wavering a little, but Jimin didn't notice. Now that he had heard the redemptive words, he needed only seconds before he came with a stifled scream. His body tightened, his toes and fingers cramping. His sperm burned a little courtesy of the previous sounding session as it came the way through his urethra, but the pain ensured that the climax felt even more intense than usual. His butt almost crushed the doctor's fingers, but he massaged him through the orgasm nonetheless. Jimin exhaled, relieved and exhausted, as he felt the doctor pull his fingers out of him.

"Yes, that will be enough for the lab." Hoseok looked at the bowl and nodded contentedly as he saw the white shimmering splashes in it. He took a sterile tube from a drawer and collected a little of the sticky liquid. He pressed his pager, and not a minute later the friendly smiling assistant entered the room. "Yewon, this is the test of our new patient. The blood test is already in the refrigerator.“ He said, and the petite girl took the test from his hand, took the second out of the fridge and disappeared into the little room, from which Hoseok had emerged.

Hoseok took off his latex gloves and threw them into the bucket under the examination table. "Everything is alright with your new pet, Yoongi.“ He concluded, smiling. "He responds very well to Dionysus, so you should really consider whether you buy a little of it. You can buy information material and the injections at the reception desk, or you go to the pharmacy. Most of them have it nowadays."  
"Thank you for everything, 'Doctor Jung'," Yoongi said with a crooked grin as he straightened and held out his hand. Hoseok seized Yoongis hand and replied the firm handshake.

"If he does not get sick in between, it's enough if you come by every six months for a short check-up. If his first heat announces, simply call in. I give special appointments for these kind of cases, then we'll push you somewhere in between.“ Explained the doctor as always friendly smiling.

Yoongi took the leash he had hung loosely around his neck during the examination, and fastened it again to Jimin's collar. The hybrid was quite exhausted because of the whole treatment. "Come Jimin, let’s get you home." Jimin hopped cautiously off the table.

"Then, goodbye, Yoongi, Jiminie.“ Hoseok said, and Yoongi raised his free hand to wave at him, then went off and Jimin followed him, as always with a step-length gap between them, out of the room. Yoongi's heart pounded excitedly in his chest. He was very curious to see how today's first night with his hybrid would turn out.

The End

[1] this part may sound strange, because in english you don't have a special word to adress someone while talking, you just say 'you'. Since the story is orginaly written in german we have the word 'Sie' for you talk to a stranger and we have the word 'du' for friends, family and so on. You can also use 'du', when the person your speaking to is the same age, for example a classmate at school but its a total no go to use 'du' while speaking to a stranger on the street, or your doctor expecially not if the person is older than you.


	2. Blue Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoongi hates parties. But most of all, he hates his best friend Namjoon because he can wrap him around his little finger so easily.  
> or  
> Yoongi and Namjoon are invited to Wonshik's pet party and meet a lot of people with their hybrids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, what can I say... I'm really sorry this took so long but I'm just lazy as fuck... 
> 
> Since May 1st, when I uploaded the first part of this story there was a lot of private things happening which hold me from writing (moving to a new flat with my beloved girlfriend for example :D). And when I got a bit of time to write I only worked on the German version of this story because it's so much easier for me to write in my mother tongue. 
> 
> Finally, here I am. Back with the second chapter of Dioptas. It's quite long and I hope it was worth waiting for it.  
> The German version of this story is here on AO3 as a series. But I think it may be better to upload the parts of the series as chapters because I get confused otherwise. 
> 
> I hope I got all the tags right. If I forgot something that might trigger someone please tell me.  
> And now have fun with the story~ <3
> 
> Again I have to thank my girlfriend for helping me out with the translation <3<3<3<3 heartu~ heartu~

„You know, now that you got Jimin you could go to the pet party with me tomorrow night!“ The statement shot suddenly out of Namjoon after they had just stared at the smooth surface of the lake in front of them and Yoongi looked up in amazement. „Pet party?" He asked confused, and Namjoon turned his attention away from the lake and looked at him instead, nodding mutely.

Yoongi, who wasn’t exactly excited, just twisted his mouth. He didn't like crowds, he never liked them to begin with and that was just one of the many reasons why he met up with his best friend out here in nature. Although the private forest of Yoongi’s family was surrounded by the outskirts of the city, the center of the forest with its lake had almost the same feeling of freedom and tranquility as a true forest far away from all the city noise. Out here there were no expectations he had to meet, no stress, no hassle. Only himself, Namjoon, the chirping of the birds in the trees and the rustling of the many leaves as the wind swept through them.

“Oh, I'm actually not sure if this is a good idea. I got Jimin only a week ago, don't you think it’s a bit too much for him to handle?" Yoongi said but Namjoon didn’t seem to buy his poor excuses.  
"Yoongi seriously, every time I bring this up you come up with another excuse. You will not be able to avoid this kind of parties forever. How many invitations have you already ignored, hm? Do you even get any invitations at all anymore?" Namjoon grabbed a pebble which lay on the ground next to him and threw it into the lake. They watched as the stone sunk into the water, creating small waves that grew bigger with time before the surface smoothed out again. "I'm not sure..." Yoongi murmured, shrugging.

He tried to remember whether or not he had received an envelope recently but he was not sure. Perhaps people had actually given up on sending him invitations. Yoongi was getting them since he turned eighteen, but he had never really wanted to participate in one of the parties. Yoongi was just like Namjoon, a son of the upper class. They were rich because their fathers had made a name for themselves instead of being born into nobility, which made them second-rate nobles. Yoongi had once attended a party of the royal family with his father, which had been years ago but he remembered it as if it had been just yesterday. The many curious eyes that had rested on him, the backbiting behind raised hands and the arrogant, faux smiles on all their faces had been reason enough for him to always deny any future invitations, especially when his father got an invitation for another festivity and asked him to join him.

The party which Namjoon now referred to was special, so very much different from the parties his father usually attended because oneself could bring your hybrid along. It was basically a catwalk for rich people to show off their wealth and what they had to offer, maybe even compare themselves to each other and since Yoongi until recently, didn't own a hybrid of his own, he hadn't seen a point in participating in this kind of parties up till now. He nevertheless had received invitations. 

There was really no need to bring a hybrid, many of the younger nobles didn't have hybrids of their own just yet and then attended with the animals of their parents, but that was out of the question for Yoongi. Yoongi's father had two wonderful cat hybrid girls but he did not really have a close bond with them and he doubted that they would listen to his orders at such a party, as they were absolutely bound to his father.

Namjoon had been frequenting this kind of parties a lot, always with his hybrid Jin which Namjoon owned since the age of 18. He had been given an award as the best student in the country and therefore received Jin as a present from his father. 

Namjoon's father was a well-known judge in the country and Namjoon was on his way to step in his footsteps in the near future. To be honest, Yoongi had often wondered why someone as intelligent as Namjoon, had chosen someone like him as a best friend but he did not complain. It wasn’t that Yoongi was foolish but Namjoon could be very enthusiastic about his studies and Yoongi didn't get half of the whole law and paragraph thing Namjoon talked about most of the time. 

Nevertheless, they’d been friends since he could remember and had never seriously argued about anything which was why he treasured their friendship a lot. Namjoon knew him like no other, he knew all his fears and worries and he tried to help him wherever Yoongi needed him. Yoongi, on the other hand, seemed to be something like a calm space for Namjoon. When he spent time with Yoongi, he could finally relax because Yoongi wasn’t laying any high expectations out for Namjoon to meet.

"It's really not as bad as you think. You get there, talk to a few people, eat all of this really delicious food, drink a little and then go back home.“ Namjoon said, throwing another stone into the lake. Yoongi sighed deeply and he swallowed down the lump in his throat.  
“Yeah, but you know how I hate pointless small talk. All the gossip at parties makes me sick and I don't want anyone joking about Jimin." Yoongi was truly trying to make his point clear.

Namjoon simply shrugged in reply. „You need to let people talk and give a shit about them and their opinion because they will talk behind your back either way.“ He said accompanied by dry laughter. 

"I don't think any member of the royal family would appreciate me shitting on them!" Yoongi snapped and Namjoon raised his hands defensively. "Come on, you know how I meant that. The high society does not settle with people like us anyway, they stay up there in their VIP lounge. So believe me when I say you do not have to worry about them. It is not even certain whether one of them appears at all. Wonshik has more than once already told them to fuck off when they behave almighty and stuff so there is really nothing for you to worry about."

Namjoon reached for a pebble again. "Besides," he threw the stone. "What do you think they are going to find funny about Jimin? He is hot as hell and because of his eye color, everyone will think that he's a Dioptas anyway. You will hardly be able to save yourself from admiring glances and comments."

Yoongi pulled his knees close to his body, put his arms around them and supported his chin with a hand, definitely annoyed. "Yes, but what if Jimin doesn't like it? If everyone wants to touch him?" He muttered, and Namjoon instantly got serious. "No one will ever touch him without your permission. This is like an unwritten rule at this kind of parties. So you don't need to worry about this matter and Jimin will absolutely love it there! Hybrids are pack animals, they like it to be among their kind.“ Namjoon assured, already seeing the wall which Yoongi had built around himself crumble and fall apart. "He is not a dog but a cat,“ Yoongi growled without a real bite in his voice and Namjoon knew he had won this argument.

Satisfied with himself, he took a few pebbles in his hand and threw them successively into the lake. Somewhere around the lake, a frog croaked.

"Fine, you've won I suppose. Invitation ‚accepted‘.“ Yoongi framed his acceptance with exaggerated air quotes to make a point here. „Even if I would come along what if there is no invitation at home waiting for me? I can definitely not invite myself to the party!“

This was the last straw Yoongi could cling to if he truly wanted to avoid the party. He would go home and then phone Namjoon, telling him that sadly he didn't receive an invitation and could not come along with him. "Ah, that's no problem at all, I can just call Wonshik and ask him if he invited you and if he didn’t I'll ask if it’s okay to bring you along! Really, no big deal.“

The speed with which Namjoon had pulled his phone out of his pocket was impressive and Yoongi stomach twisted nervously. "You ... you got his number?! He is a close relative of the royal family and you have his private number?" Namjoon rolled his eyes. „Why not scream it even louder through the forest, you're frightening all the birds at best Yoongi.“ He hissed, his index finger pressed to his lips and Yoongi's mouth twitched as if he had just bitten a lemon in reply to Namjoon’s action.

Before he could make a move to stop him Namjoon had already selected Wonshik's number in his contacts and held the smartphone against his ear. Yoongi, who had actually wanted to say something, closed his mouth quickly.

"Yo, hyung, whassup?" Yoongi looked at the other disbelievingly. One could not welcome a member of the royal family on the phone like this.

"Are the preparations for the party going well? What? Sure, I'll be there, Jin is already excited. No, listen, it's about my friend Yoongi, who recently finally got his own hybrid. I wanted to ask whether or not I could bring him along, if he, of course, isn't on the guest list already?" Yoongi heard someone talking on the other end, but he couldn't understand what was spoken.

"Yeah, the name is Min Yoongi, I've already told you about him. His hybrid is called Jimin." Apparently following Namjoons words, Wonshik seemed to be distracted for a moment if Namjoon’s silence was any hint. Then, "Dude, you're the best!" Namjoon exclaimed happily before he held on for a moment, as the person began to talk again. 

The corners of Yoongi's mouth twisted downwards at the word ‚dude'. Namjoons lack of respect was truly something to behold.  
"Yeah I’d love to, I wanted to show you the lyrics to a song I was working on, to which I really want your opinion hyung!“ The conversation seemed to be coming to an end and Yoongi's stomach jolted unpleasantly.

If he had pieced it together correctly, there already was an invitation waiting for him at home. So Namjoon shouldn't have bothered his friend at all. What might he possibly think of him now? He would most likely think Yoongi would consider Wonshik not relevant enough to even open his envelopes, or he might think Yoongi had already forgotten about his invitation. 

When all he simply was, was being unsure about his spot on the guest list. 

The phone call ended sooner than Yoongi would have loved and Namjoon hung up with a broad grin plastered on his face before he looked at Yoongi with a smile radiating utter joy. "As you can see, Wonshik doesn't do things half-assed, of course, you're invited," Namjoon explained and Yoongi rubbed at his temples to mask his embarrassment. 

"Great and now he might think, I give a shit about his parties because I didn't read his damn invitation,“ Yoongi said bitterly. Namjoon raised his eyebrow. "You really worry too much. Wonshik is not that petty. You will like him, I'm sure!" Namjoon encouraged him. Yoongi watched him put his phone back into the confines of his jeans.

"Oh, I don't know," Yoongi sighed, staring at the lake lying still as if it could sooth the inner turmoil he was feeling. On one hand he didn't want to let Namjoon down, on the other he really didn't want to attend this party.

"I guess I have to get my good suit out for this, right?" He muttered, and Namjoon rocked his head back and forth. "Well, there are a lot of people who are definitely not attending in a suit but you should definitely dress in something that makes you look damn good. Which should not be so difficult with your pretty face.“ Namjoon joked and Yoongi elbowed him painfully in his side. "And what should Jimin wear?" Yoongi asked, whom, with every passing minute, simply accepted his fate.

“There are a few hybrids that show up completely naked but most are wearing at least light, revealing clothes. The most important thing is the collar with your family emblem. I can bring you a toga of Jin if you’d like that." Namjoon suggested and Yoongi looked at him suspiciously. "Only if it's not pink.“ He explained and Namjoon smiled. "I have a white one with gold embroidery, in which Jimin will surely look absolutely fantastic,“ Namjoon added while looking up into the sky as if he was already imagining Yoongi's hybrid in said robe.

"Why is the collar so important? Will there be hybrids on sale as well?" Yoongi asked curiously, and Namjoon nodded. "Wonshik is good friends with a merchant who hosts such parties and uses such an occasion to fuel his business. Even if we would have to save up some money for a very long time in order to be able to afford even one of these gems. He uses this kind of parties to show off his goods, after all only well-paying customers are present. The guy makes a fortune on a single party night. I even think you bought Jimin from his father."

That caught Yoongi's attention.

"You mean merchant Lee's son? God, I can’t stand this guy, I would not have given him a penny but my dad had insisted on buying from him. Disgustingly greasy guy." Namjoon made an agreeing noise.

"Yes, I've heard a lot of bad things about him and his character but at least he takes his job quite seriously. He only purchases the best hybrids from respective schools so he can be sure that the hybrids he has to offer are of the best possible quality. Maybe you have to be an asshole because otherwise, you can’t survive in this business.“ Namjoon guessed with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I've only seen his son a few times but never talked to him. Since Wonshik respects him a lot though he cannot be that bad, I think. He's definitely damn attractive. His face is too beautiful for a man if you ask me." Namjoon laughed, stood up and dusted his butt off.

„You're saying the same thing about my face though,“ Yoongi said with a crooked grin as he grabbed Namjoon's outstretched hand and pulled himself up. Namjoon chuckled. "So the party starts at eight. I'll pick you and Jimin up tomorrow, okay?”

*+* 

Yoongi's nervousness increased rapidly as Namjoon parked the car in the parking lot in front of the large estate where the party would take place. The sun had just disappeared behind the horizon, taking all the warmth off of the facade of the building, leaving only cold marble behind. The white marble seemed to be wherever he looked, surrounded by a thick dark coniferous forest. The way up to the entrance was lined with lanterns, which illuminated the path sufficiently.

Yoongi didn't know much about the party host. Kim Wonshik was the direct cousin of the prince royal and the sheer thought of meeting him at this kind of party made Yoongi break out in a cold sweat. His father, as Namjoon had told him, was often traveling around the world and Wonshik resided here with his mother, as well as the servants and his hybrid Leo. 

The huge estate lay on this small mountain near the city, giving them all the privacy they needed. They had driven for the better part of a quarter of an hour out of the city to the south-west and had a phenomenal view from up here down into the valley in which the capital lay.

Namjoon also told him that Wonshik was very interested in art. According to his best friend, the interior looked like a museum as the walls were lined with numerous paintings by well-known artists. Namjoon had assured him that he would like Wonshik but the more he had learned about the other man the more he doubted the words of his friend.

He opened the passenger door and climbed out of the car to open the door for Jimin, who exited out of the car in one graceful, flowing movement. He looked truly beautiful tonight and a tingling in the lower region of his body made it pretty clear for Yoongi that he would rather have been home alone with Jimin right now than to accompany Namjoon to this party.

Namjoon hadn't promised too much, the white toga with the golden embroidery flattered Jimin's body fabulously. The fabric glimmered slightly in the light of the setting sun, emphasizing Jimin's tanned skin as if the robe had been made especially for him. 

From the right shoulder, the white fabric flowed down and was held together at the waist by a golden cord. Underneath, the robe was barely long enough to cover Jimin's buttocks and groin at a decent length. The left breast of the hybrid was naked and offered just enough skin to hint at his muscular stature and show off the cute pink nipple of Jimin. 

His feet were fastened in sandals, which were closed at the front and only consisted of thin golden leather straps. He was wearing a different collar than usual for this special occasion. It was made of white leather and adorned with small sparkling stones. A small round pendant with the emblem of Yoongi's family was fastened at the front, letting the cherry blossom stand out nicely against the white background. Yoongi had received it from his mother as a fitting gift for the hybrid which his father had bought him.

Jimin was not used to wearing clothes. Every time he thought Yoongi wasn't looking he tried to scratch at a different spot. In addition, Yoongi noticed out of the corner of his eye, that his pet seemed to twitch again and again whenever the fabric moved on his skin.

Yoongi wanted to laugh loudly at Jimin's irritated expression, but he held back. He had only been with Jimin for a week and he was already so pleased with him. Jimin was always trying his hardest to read Yoongi's every wish from his eyes. And Yoongis praise always made him light up like a child on Christmas morning upon opening its presents. It was absolutely adorable how his eyes seemed to sparkle like little stars, while his cheeks always turned a little pink.

Namjoon was wearing a nice cream-colored suit with a pink button down shirt with the top buttons left open to match the outfit of his hybrid. Jin, Namjoon's hybrid, wore a pink toga with silvery flower patterns and looked unashamedly good in it. Yoongi had almost burst with envy when Namjoon had gotten Jin because that had lead to a lot of admiration within their circle of friends. 

Not everyone got their own hybrid at such a young age. Hybrids were a quite expensive investment, similar to cars or estates, which was why many of their friends could only hope to place a hand on one of the expensive animals one day. It was not uncommon that at an auction a hybrid of the Dioptas class was sold for the same amount of money as an estate as big as Wonshiks seemed to be.

Yoongi had always heard of how indescribable beautiful and intelligent the Dioptas were, but he had never faced one of them. Yoongi glanced at Jin, who had slung his arm through Namjoon's and walked toward the entrance of the building. Yoongi had always believed that Jin was the most beautiful hybrid he would ever see, at least until he met Jimin. 

Yoongi had often wondered how it would be if Namjoon would allow him to spend a night with Jin. Now that he had Jimin, he had no longer thought of his friend's hybrid at all, since Jimin had claimed all his attention and fulfilled nearly every of his most daring sexual desires. 

When he thought back to their first night together, a tingling sensation spread throughout his whole body, and a blush painted his face a bright red.

Jimin next to him often sniffled the air to catch a smell, but then he shook his head slightly as if the hybrid had to remind himself that he was in the presence of his master and under public eyes which was why he had to behave accordingly.

They climbed the few steps, covered with red carpet, leading to a large entrance door, where servants greeted the guests. One checked the names of everyone on a list, making sure only listed guests would enter and another servant beside him offered a glass of champagne to everyone passing inside.

Yoongi gave them a once over. They wore all black, polished leather shoes, black trousers with pinstripe and matching waistcoats, over brilliant white shirts with golden cufflinks and equally white gloves. The ties were Bordeaux colored and embellished with a black raven embroidery in the middle. Yoongi wore his best suit, but felt already underdressed, next to the servants, wonderful.

Namjoon went determined towards the young man with the list and presented his invitation. "Good evening, Master Namjoon." The man greeted him kindly and gave him back the invitation after he had made a hook in the corresponding column on the list. Yoongi gave the man his invitation next, and he hated that his hand trembled and he began to chew nervously on his lower lip. What if he was not on the list?

"Mister Min Yoongi, accompanied by Jimin," the man mumbled, hooked and gave him the invitation. Then he looked at Yoongi with a friendly smile and pointed with a hand towards the entrance. "Have a good evening, Master Yoongi. I hope you both enjoy yourself at the party." The second servant offered a glass of sparkling wine to Namjoon, but he waved his hand. "Thank you, I have to drive by myself tonight," he explained, and the man nodded in understanding, handing the glass to Yoongi, who accepted it gratefully. He usually didn't drink alcohol, but he would make an exception tonight as the drink might give him a little bit of well-needed courage.

They entered the building and immediately stood in a huge entranceway with stairs that led upwards to both sides. An exorbitant large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling and brightened everything with a pleasant warm light. On the walls hung, as expected, several large paintings, but Yoongi could not look at them more closely, as Namjoon went on and he didn't want to lose him right at the beginning of their evening.

"Mmh, do you smell that? God, I'm starving right now!" Namjoon said, ignoring the two stairs and heading for the double door at the other end of the hall. They seemed to be quite busy there, because not only the delicious scent of food but also the voices of many people came from this direction. Yoongi straightened his shoulders and armed himself for the inevitable. Jimin next to him seemed to be tense, and Yoongi stroked the back of his hybrid for a last time, before he pulled him through the door.  
Immediately they were surrounded by people. The room was really large and open on one side, which led into an inside garden with a pool. Yoongi was astonished as he looked around. He did not quite know what he had expected, but it was quite different from the party he had attended with his father. It seemed less stiff, more like a graduation party. If he could tell at first glance about the crowd, hardly any older gentlemen were invited, most of them were at the age of Namjoon and Yoongi or even younger. The mood was boisterous, people were laughing and drinking everywhere. The music was not as loud as you would expect it at a party, but they probably wanted to spare the hybrids, who had a much more sensitive hearing than the rest of the guests.

The ladies wore cocktail dresses in all shapes and colors and as Namjoon had said, there were a lot of men who, unlike him, had not appeared in a suit to the party. The hybrids were clearly distinguishable from the normal visitors, as they wore much less clothing. Namjoon had been right about this fact as well, for there were in fact also hybrids, who were sitting naked to the feet of their owners, or, if they allowed it, were standing beside them.  
In the middle of the giant room, stood a tall round pedestal and on it were three very pretty Felidae hybrids. 

They were all completely naked, not even wearing a collar and seemed terrified, for they had pulled their tails between their legs, seeking protection in pressing themselves against each other as they looked around wide-eyed. Apart from a small group standing directly in front of the pedestal, hardly anyone seemed to pay attention to the hybrids on the podium.

Namjoon leaned toward Yoongi whispering to him, "See, there are the hybrids that are sold tonight." He gestured with a nod to the podium where he could see the merchant in a group of people.

"There, that's him. Do you see the tall dark-haired man in the middle, the one with the dark blue suit? This is the son of Mister Lee," he explained, and Yoongi followed his gaze.

He nodded briefly as he had seen him and sipped at his drink before taking a look at Jimin, who looked around with big eyes and once again sniffed the air. Namjoon stretched himself a little to get a better overview, then suddenly he waved to someone.  
"I've found someone I want to introduce to you," he said, grabbing Jin's hand and walking with him in tow. Yoongi hurried to follow his best friend through the partial dancing crowd. They went into a corner of the room, where some comfortable looking black leather couches were standing around.

"Namjoon, long time no see!" A young man with platinum-blond hair called at them and rose from the couch to come and meet Namjoon. 

He wore tight-fitting black trousers with matching shoes and a dark red silken shirt, which had the upper few buttons undone. The sleeves of his shirt were a little too long, reaching all the way down to his knuckles, but it didn't seem like the shirt was too big. Probably it was just a new fashion among the super rich, which he hadn't noticed so far. 

The boy's hybrid waited for a sign from his master before he rose from his place on the ground, went over to Jin and gave him a gentle kiss on his mouth, which was intensified shortly thereafter. Namjoon and the young man only watched their hybrids as they kissed, with a smile on their faces.

Yoongi raised an eyebrow in surprise, but he didn't say anything, even though he had a lot of questions about this behavior. The kiss ended and the hybrid gently nudged Jin's nose with his own, whereupon both of them giggled and joyfully waved their tails. The boy's hybrid wore an almost transparent, light robe, which was open on both sides and held together by silk bands. It had the same color as his master's shirt. The collar was also dark red but had a white thorny pattern on it, and the emblem at the front showed a white rose. Namjoon put his arm around Yoongi and pushed him a bit forward.

"Yoongi, this is Sanghyuk. Sanghyuk, my best friend Yoongi."  
They shook hands a little formally. "Please just call me Hyuk, hyung. Namjoon has already told me a lot about you." Yoongi looked annoyed at Namjoon, which had never mentioned a Sanghyuk to him before, and he really wondered what his best friend had told the other. There was only one thing that Yoongi really hated, and that was someone talking about him without him knowing about it - especially when it was his best friend talking about him.

"I hope only the best.", he muttered in Namjoon direction and he scratched his head with a laugh. Sanghyuk patted Namjoon's shoulder. "To be honest, I initially thought you were his girlfriend because he always had such a dreamy expression when he mentioned you. Was a very embarrassing situation when I found out that you're a guy, and you're not together at all."

Namjoon and Sanghyuk laughed and Yoongi could not prevent his mouth twitching amused. "Yeah, if I were a woman, we would be definitely be married by now," he said with a mocking grin and the other two laughed a little louder.

"Well, well, Ken. I didn't allow you to touch him." Sanghyuk's voice suddenly cut through the mood, and the addressed hybrid drew his hands, which he had naturally laid around Jin's hip, away as if he had burned himself. He pulled his head between his shoulders, clearly embarrassed, lumbered over to his master, going down on his knees before him, and rubbed his head at his thigh in an apologizing gesture.

Sanghyuk's anger at the illicit behavior of his pet quickly disappeared and he fondled his left ear, whereupon the hybrid waved his tail joyfully.

"Please excuse his behavior, hyung," Sanghyuk said, but Namjoon just raised his hands and shook his head. "Oh no problem, you haven't been with Ken for that long, it's all right, he still has a lot to learn from you." Jimin, who had been hiding behind Yoongi all along, gave a low, barely audible meow. As the eyes of the others turned to him, he blushed embarrassed and looked down.

“Oh, my god!" Sanghyuk, which paid attention to Jimin for the first time looked at Yoongi with his mouth open. "You own a Dioptas?" He breathed, twitching a little to get a better look at Jimin's blue eyes.  
Namjoon laughed and hit Yoongi on the back. "Well, what did I say?" Yoongi felt pride spread within him, but he just shook his head to answer Sanghyuks question. "No, he can not speak. He is just a Citrin, Dr. Jung told me it's very rare that a hybrid of his class has blue eyes, but well..." Sanghyuk whistled, approvingly.

"For how long have you been here?" Namjoon asked Sanghyuk, who sipped his drink before he answered. "I guess only a quarter of an hour or so. Prince Minhyuk is here and everyone has thrown themselves at his feet when he came out of the VIP area. Everyone here is just so very eager to lick his ass. They are trying to establish contact with the royal family to maybe get themselves a better life."

Yoongi looked at Sanghyuk utterly confused. Namjoon noticed the gaze and grinned. "Hyuk doesn't belong to the nobility, hyung. He is the junior CEO of the VIXX Entertainment Group."

Yoongi opened his mouth because this revelation took him by surprise. The entertainment Namjoon was speaking about was by far not the largest company that raised, trained and sold hybrids, but it had nevertheless been able to make a name for itself among all the others on the market since they generated really good hybrids.

Sanghyuk went down and pushed the light garment which Ken was wearing aside at the waist to show his brand. It was round, and the concentric circles and crossing degrees formed a pentagram, as someone may have seen before in movies everytime a demon was summoned. This was the Emblem of the VIXX school.

"I got Ken at my birthday this year from my father," Sanghyuk explained, giving the hybrid a soft kiss on the cheek. "I've wanted one since I was eighteen years old," Yoongi nodded, it was legally regulated that hybrids could only be owned by people being eighteen or older. "But my dad always told me, he would only give me one when he believes that I'm ready for it." Namjoon crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I still do not believe you're mature enough. You're still pretty much half-baked," he joked, and Sanghyuk gave him a look keen to aghast. "Not true," he said, puffing up his cheeks.

They all laughed, and Yoongi took another big sip of his drink. Slowly but surely he could feel the alcohol because he felt more comfortable than he had before. Namjoon pointed over his shoulder to the pedestal with the hybrids. "Is there one of yours up there?" He asked curiously, but Sanghyuk shook his head after looking briefly at the animals.

"Did you see Wonshik already?" Namjoon wanted to know next and Sanghyuk nodded. "Yes, he was here before. But we've not had the opportunity to talk because prince Minhyuk was calling for Wonshik's attention the whole time." Namjoon stood next to Sanghyuk to get a better view of the crowd. However, he couldn't see their host anywhere. "Where did they go?" He asked, and Sanghyuk made a gesture towards the open side of the room. "They're probably talking outside in the garden, but I don't know."  
Yoongi put his now empty glass on one of the small side tables between the leather couches and then grabbed Jimin's hand again to breathe a soft kiss on the back of his hands. Jimin's eyes lit up joyfully and he gave a satisfied purr.

"Oh, I totally forgot to ask you for the name of your hybrid?" Sanghyuk suddenly noticed, and Yoongi smiled. "His name is Jimin," he introduced his hybrid, and Sanghyuk frowned. "Did you give him that name?" He asked, but Yoongi shook his head. "No, why are you asking? He already had the name when we bought him," he explained, and Sanghyuk looked at him again. "Yes, but don't you want to give him a name by yourself? He may have been trained under the name of Jimin, but he is and remains your pet, so you should call him as you like, right?"

Yoongi looked briefly but puzzled over to Namjoon who just shrugged. "But Jin is also called Jin," Yoongi said, pointing to Namjoon's hybrid, but to his immense surprise, Namjoon shook his head. "No, that's not quite true. When I bought him, he was named Seokjin." 

Yoongi pulled his mouth into a frown for a moment. Upon Namjoons revelation the three of them fell quiet, it was almost like he was able to hear crickets chirping in the distance as he waited for someone to speak up again. "Well, you've never been really creative when it came down to names," Yoongi remarked with a sarcastic tone, and Namjoon indignantly clasped his hands to his hips. 

But before he could say something in his defense or stop Yoongi, he began talking again. "Come on Namjoon, you know I'm right. Which rapper except you, would proudly call himself 'Rap Monster', huh?"  
There was a moment of silence between them. Namjoon was all red around the nose and Sanghyuk looked at the others disbelievingly. Then, just a moment later, he burst out laughing and had to put his drink away, laughing so loudly that he was in danger of spilling the drink over his hybrid.

Namjoon grimaced as if he had just bitten a lemon and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Rap Monster." Sanghyuk wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "You must know," he chuckled as he spoke. "I know that Namjoon writes lyrics, but every time the topic came to his artist name," He put the word with his fingers in quotation marks. "He didn't wanna tell me. Now I know why."  
Namjoon snapped and looked angry at his two friends. He found his name, not at all ridiculous.

"Sometime, when I am the greatest rapper in the world, you will be proud to know this name. You'll be throwing yourself on the ground and worship him!" He hissed, and Sanghyuk and Yoongi started laughing so hard that they had to cling to each other not to fall over.

The laughter was suddenly interrupted by Namjoon's rumbling stomach, and Sanghyuk grinned, "The monster in Namjoon's belly calls for attention", so they went to the other side of the room where a gigantic buffet had been set up. Yoongi wasn't - God forbid - really in danger of dying of starvation, but he had never seen so many delicious dishes in a heap, and so slowly he became painfully conscious of his own rumbling stomach. He gave Jimin a plate and a bowl in his hand and shoveled himself and his hybrid a little of everything he liked on top.

Jimin could eat with chopsticks, but all the hybrids he had seen so far were eating exclusively from their feeding bowls. Presumably to emphasize the difference between human and hybrid even more clearly.

He reached for a few napkins and waited for Namjoon and Sanghyuk to finish, so they could take a seat at one of the tables where other guests were already seated. 

The tables were round and large enough that anyone could dine comfortably with at least six people per table. The tablecloth was white and Yoongi saw servants flitting around the tables all the time to replace dirty tablecloths with fresh ones. In addition, the waiters came immediately when someone was lifting a finger to bring all possible beverages to the tables. Namjoon ordered an alcohol-free beer, while Sanghyuk and Yoongi got a red wine recommended by the waiter.

“Wonshik's family has huge lands. The wine is from own cultivation and tastes great, I've tried it at the last party," explained Namjoon, who looked a little enviously at his two friends as they tasted the delicious wine.

For the hybrids, there was water, as alcohol, as was generally known, was harmful to the expensive animals. Also, other non-alcoholic beverages other than water were not recommended. Yoongi had let Jimin drink a little of his morning coffee last Wednesday, and the hybrid had been terribly full of vim all day, running through the apartment with a bushy tail instead of taking a nap after breakfast, which Yoongi usually used to do his work peacefully. Had he only heard of Namjoon, who had once told him about the same experience years ago with Jin and a bottle of Coke.

Yoongi opened the napkin and put it in Jimin's collar so he could not get his clothes stained while eating and took the second napkin to keep his own wardrobe save from possible stains.

From their table, they had a good view on the small group of men standing around the hybrids merchant and Yoongi asked between two bites "Who are all the people standing beside the podium? Do you know any of them? "Sanghyuk, who had to look over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the intended group, swallowed down his food and nodded.

"I know Jackson, that is the little muscular one with the bright hair. The hybrid right next to him is as far as I know named Mark. No idea if he offers him in his club for rent or if he is using him only in private, he always only ever brings him to pet parties." He turned around again and shoved himself more food into his mouth.

"What club?" Yoongi asked, who had absolutely no idea what Sanghyuk meant. Namjoon explained in place of Sanghyuk. "He is the owner of the Papillon."  
Yoongi dropped the chopsticks and looked more closely at the man. He had heard of the Papillon, of course. Everyone knew this name because it was the most famous brothel in the city, in which exclusively hybrids offered their services.

Most people could not afford a hybrid at all. Rarely, there were owners of supermarkets where Benitoit or Axinit hybrids worked, and many of the farmers used hybrids of these classes as cheap labor in the fieldwork.

To save a lot of money hybrids were often bought for smaller tasks or unskilled labor since they had no right to any kind of payment. They had no more rights than ordinary livestock, but due to their physical nature, they were able to do the same work as humans, as long as the tasks at hand were easy to learn. Those who purchased a hybrid had to pay taxes, and the governing office, which had been set up specifically for the protection of hybrids, visited the owners at irregular intervals to make sure the hybrids had the most necessity and were not mistreated.

The most necessary was in this case a place to sleep, food and regular medical check-ups to stifle any epidemics in the bud. Because hybrids were both prone to diseases of animals as well as humans and thus particularly endangered at getting a disease, which they could in the worst case give to their master and from there to other humans and or hybrids.

The hybrids of these two "inferior" classes had been the first to be brought to the market at that time, they still had so much animal behavior that they were purchased exclusively for easy-to-learn work or as a common pet in human form.

When the scientists finally succeeded in breeding more and more attractive and intelligent animals, the entire erotic industry smelled a big deal. Pornos, where hybrids occurred, were just as spurious as the ordinary erotic films among the people, but the sales showed a different picture. Although no one would admit that he watched such films, they could be found everywhere on the internet soon.

And not without reason. Citrin hybrids could only be afforded by citizens of the upper-income class or nobles, which was why brothels in which someone could rent hybrids of this class for one night experienced a boom. A night in a hybrid brothel was even gifted to celebrate the 18th birthday, even if Yoongi could absolutely not understand this trend at all. He for his part had never seen a brothel from within and actually didn't want to change this.

Jackson just laughed at something the merchant's probably said and put his arm around the hybrid by his side. Yoongi did not know exactly why he was so baffled. He had imagined the owner of the most famous brothel of the city somehow different, even if he did not even know how he would imagine a brothel owner in general.

Sanghyuk looked back over his shoulder. "Hongbin is the merchant of the hybrids up there on the podium. This is the tall guy in the middle." Namjoon and Yoongi nodded. "Yeah, Yoongi bought Jimin from his father. What's his name, you said? Hongbin?" Namjoon asked and Sanghyuk nodded while chewing.

"The guy next to him is probably a prince from another country, who is really crazy about Leo and is therefore constantly visiting Wonshik. No idea what he's called, I can not remember his name." Sanghyuk put a particularly large piece of meat in his mouth and Namjoon laughed. "Oh, well, then the poor prince is certainly quite desperate. Wonshik doesn't let anyone go near Leo."

Yoongi listened to the two silently. He knew that Leo was Wonshik's hybrid, but Namjoon hadn't told him that much about him. "I can understand the fascination for Leo, if I were Wonshik, I would not leave him to anyone else as well. I mean, he's absolutely stunning." Namjoon sighed dreamily, and Yoongi took a side view at Jin who sadly drooped his ears. 

He kicked Namjoon under the table against his shin and his friend howled because of the sudden pain. Yoongi looked at him angrily and made a head movement towards Jin. "Ey, Jinnie, don't be sad. You're still my one and only~ ", he apologized immediately and breathed a gentle kiss on the full lips of his hybrid, which seemed instantly happy again.

It was never good to talk so much about another hybrid in front of one's own because even when Citrin hybrids could hardly speak, they understood almost every word of their masters. It was certainly not pleasant for Jin to hear Namjoon speak over another hybrid this enthusiastically.

"Leo is still the best hybrid our entertainment has ever trained. He is perfect in every aspect. Maybe a little quiet for a Dioptas but still incredibly well educated." Sanghyuk now also started to praise the hybrid and Yoongi became clairaudient. "Leo is a hybrid of the VIXX school?", He asked intrigued, and Sanghyuk affirmed this. 

"Yes, Wonshik and I became friends because of Leo. I recommended Leo to him and sold him in the end." Sanghyuk explained, and Yoongi nodded in understanding.

"The dear prince seems to have cast an eye on one of the hybrids on the podium," Namjoon said, and the other two also saw the prince pointing to one of the three hybrids gesturing towards Hongbin with his hands. "Do you know when the auction will take place? At midnight again?" Namjoon asked, but Sanghyuk shrugged. "Unfortunately, I don't know," he said before another bite disappeared in his mouth. 

They didn't speak for the rest of the meal and after the waiters had cleared their table from the empty plates, Namjoon discovered their host in the crowd. He drew his attention upon them by waving at him, and Wonshik, a tall and really handsome man with bright blonde hair, styled upwards with a proper dose of hairspray, came to their table. 

Yoongi wondered whether everyone from Wonshik's friends was blond or almost white-haired because he had noticed many guests at the party having this particular kind of haircolor. Or maybe it was another trend he wasn't aware of. Wonshik was completely dressed in black, the shirts cut resembling Sanghyuks, but as he approached, Yoongi noticed thin silver thread feathers woven as a pattern into the black silk. The trousers were tight-fitting and made of leather, matching his pointed shoes.

“Namjoon, Sanghyuk!" Wonshik called out as he was close enough and the two rose to welcome Wonshik, so Yoongi did as well. The three greeted each other with casual handclaps, and when Wonshik's gaze fell on Yoongi a brief unpleasant silence occurred. 

"And you're Yoongi, aren't you?" Wonshik asked, giving him his hand more formally. Yoongi seized his hand and returned the strong, warm handshake. "Yes, thank you very much for the invitation," he stammered a little stiffly, and Wonshik made a dismissive hand movement. 

"I'm glad I finally can welcome you as my guest, Namjoon already told me a lot about you.", Wonshik said, still smiling, and Yoongi gave Namjoon a death glare. Had he yet talked about him to every damn guest at this party?

Wonshik opened his mouth as his eyes wandered to Jimin. But before he could say anything, Yoongi explained, "He isn't a Dioptas, even if his eyes are blue." Wonshik paused, but then he began to laugh. "Oh? I see it happens frequently that someone thinks he's a higher level, because of his eye color, am I right?" Yoongi nodded and felt heat spread across his cheeks. 

"Will there be an auction again today, hyung?" Namjoon asked, and Wonshik followed his gaze toward the tribune.  
"Hmm, actually there is an auction planned, yes. But, I'm afraid, if Yixing bids, hardly anyone will be able to compete." He shrugged. "I completely leave everything that's connected with the auction to Hongbin. It is his business, I keep out of it as far as possible. Sometimes I wish he wouldn't use my parties to do his business, but many of my guests are looking forward to the auction." Namjoon looked over at the small group, who were still deep in conversation.

"Is he really a prince, hyung? I think I've heard a rumor or something like that." Sanghyuk asked, and Wonshik nodded. "Yes, the royal houses of the various countries are all connected by trade and military contracts. He will be here for a few months as a guest at the royal court. Minhyuk introduced him to me a few weeks ago, and well, I like him, so I told him he could bring him along today.”

Namjoon reached for his glass and drank the rest of his beer. "Doesn't he have a hybrid yet?" Sanghyuk continued asking, but Wonshik shrugged. "According to Minhyuk, he has a whole harem at home, but he didn't seem to like them very much. No idea what exactly he is looking for. We're the only country with Dioptas so far, in his country, the science of breeding them is still in the progress." He made a move with his head in the direction of the tribune. "The hybrid in the middle is a Dioptas, he has a really nice voice, Hongbin made him sing before all the guests arrived. Since then Yixing couldn't leave his eyes off him the whole evening, he wants him at any cost."

Wonshik folded his arms in front of his chest and grimaced. "Better him than Leo. He's always making allusions to it not being a big deal in his country to lend someone's hybrids to others for a night." Wonshik's eyes narrowed and he bit his teeth so tightly that his cheekbones started grinding. "Prince or not, if he puts one of his hands on Leo, he will not see his country again." Namjoon and Sanghyuk exchanged a knowing look but didn't comment on Wonshik's words.

"Speaking of Leo, where is he?" Namjoon asked, turning Wonshik's attention away from the prince and leading his mind to his beloved hybrid. Wonshik's face relaxed at the thought of his lover and a smile formed around his mouth. "He is just chatting a bit with Wonho in the VIP lounge. Like me, Minhyuk doesn't wanna pay attention the whole time to whether my guests can keep their hands in check. We don't want to risk someone's becoming cocky. You can't imagine how fast people break clear rules when they are a little drunk.”

Maybe some disappointment had shown in Yoongi's face, which Wonshik immediately noticed: "What's the matter, Yoongi? Is something wrong?" Yoongi hated that sometimes people could read him like an open book, and he shook his head gently. "Oh, I just thought." He gulped and wrung his hands. "Well, I've never seen a Dioptas, and Namjoon has already told me a little about Leo and made me honestly quite curious about him." The redness in his cheeks burned so much that he wished the ground would open up and swallow him. What would Wonshik think of him now? Of a guy, who hadn't ever since reacted to any of his invitations, and suddenly wanted to marvel at the most valuable thing Wonshik possessed, like a rare animal at a zoo.

Yoongi expected Wonshik to sadly tell him he couldn't show him, but once again their host surprised him with an unexpected reply. "If that's so. Would you all like to go upstairs? It is a bit quieter there. Namjoon, you said you brought your lyrics along?" Namjoon immediately nodded eagerly and a broad smile spread his face. "The rhymes are going to blow you away, hyung." He promised, convinced of the greatness of his lyrics, and patted himself on the shoulder. Sanghyuk also seemed to be hooked, because he hadn't seen Leo in a long time.

They all rose and followed Wonshik toward the wall with the breakthrough to the garden, where a small spiral staircase was located. Yoongi noticed only now that there was a gallery on the whole right side of the room, from where they were able to watch over the lively activity of the party from above. On the stairs stood a muscular man, not so kind-looking, with short-cropped hair, sunglasses, and an earpiece. 

Obviously he belonged to the guards and had been situated on the stairs to prevent unauthorized guests from entering the gallery. The man stepped to the side as he saw Wonshik and his guests approaching and immediately resumed to his position on the lowest step as Sanghyuk had passed him as the last member of the group.

They climbed, the numerous steps, one by one until they finally entered the gallery, which was decorated with red carpet and cozy, inviting black bean bags. The heads of the two hybrids present had lifted themselves astonishedly when they had heard footsteps on the stairs, and Leo immediately rose to a sitting position as he saw his master appear at the edge of the stairs.

Wonshik waited until all of his guests had reached the top, before he went to Leo, lovingly taking the face of the hybrid in both hands and pressing a gentle kiss to his mouth. "I've brought you guests," he whispered, and Leo's gaze, which had been hanging on Wonshik as if paralyzed, now for the first time turned to the others on the gallery.

When he noticed Sanghyuk, his mouth opened in surprise and his head shot back to Wonshik looking at him with begging eyes. Wonshik nodded and Leo rose in an unusually flowing motion from the oversized beanbag on which he had been lying sideways.

Yoongi held his breath. Leo didn't move like a human, his movements were much more supple, much more graceful. He seemed to move completely silent like Yoongi had seen before while watching Jimin stalking an insect that had flown into the room.

Yoongi did not know where to look first. Leo wore only the hint of a robe, the black cloth that wrapped around his body was transparent, portraying the big-sized figure just right without really covering anything. Around the slender neck was a thin black collar with silver chains attached to it forming small arches on the lower edge. In the middle of the neck was, his owner's family emblem - it was diamond-shaped, and showed a black raven on a burgundy background.

Leo's eyes were bright blue, forming a crisp contrast to the dark, slightly curly shock of hair in which rounded ears were sticking out of. The skin was so immaculate and white that even Yoongi became a little jealous. The fur on his ears and tail was short, black, like Jimin's, and shimmering slightly bluish. On the rosy nipples of the hybrid glittered small silver balls attached to a pin and Yoongi saw from the corner of his eyes that his intimate area had a piercing too, but he was so banned by the bright eyes, that he could hardly look anywhere else, then at the face of this beautiful creature. 

He felt mesmerized. For a moment, he seemed to be up here alone with Leo, who moved in his direction on tiptoes. Yoongi's heart struck him to the throat, and he swallowed the lump, which had formed there.

Leo stopped about a meter in front of them and leaned his head slightly. "Welcome, Master Sanghyuk.", said the hybrid and Yoongi was perplex for a moment. Of course, he knew that Dioptas could speak, but absorbed in his contemplation, this knowledge had been erased from his mind. Leo's graceful curved mouth had hardly moved when he had spoken, and the words hadn't been more than a whisper. If Yoongi had had to describe his voice, he would have thought of only the term 'feathery'. For the voice came very close to fluttering wings.

"Good evening, Leo. It has been a while, I hope you have done well here?" It was not really a question, everyone present could clearly see that this hybrid wasn't missing anything. He was well fed and healthy, his fur shimmering in the light of the many chandeliers.

Yoongi was torn a bit from his stiffness by Sanghyuk's voice and he took more time to look at the hybrid. He wore, besides the silky black cloth, elegantly wrapped around his body, no clothes, but a lot of jewelry. On the narrow wrists, shone many bracelets and the right ankle also had a thin, delicate anklet. In the black fur of the ears glittered on closer inspection some gemstones and also the collar was littered with black stones, which flashed at each movement at another place, depending on which facet the light reflected at that time.

On the right hip bone of the hybrid was the same brand that Yoongi had seen before on Ken, and he twisted his face a little as he thought about, how much it must have hurt to get a hot iron pushed into his skin.

Strangely, he hadn't asked himself this in view of Jimin and Ken's brands at all, and he didn't know why. It was paradox. Yoongi's head was giving him the illusion of a human standing in front of him and not a hybrid. For as long as he didn't move, but only speak, one could fall into the illusion that Leo was a human being. Except for the ears and the thin tail, which had been curling around Leo's right leg in a gentle curve, everything seemed quite human about him. It was as if Leo was just another guest at the party, a person like Namjoon and Wonshik, but that wasn't the case.

The clothes, the way he moved and finally the unnatural eye color showed what he really was and yet something in Yoongi's mind refused to accept this vehemently. His subconsciousness put Leo on the same level with himself, and that was probably the reason why he thought about the pain of the brand mark at all. He had had this feeling once when Jimin had fallen asleep in bed after their first night, but as soon as Jimin was awake and meowed, he reminded Yoongi of the animal he was inevitably again.

"I'm fine, Master Sanghyuk," Leo whispered in his silky voice, and Sanghyuk nodded, smiling. Leo turned his head to the left and bowed to Namjoon. "Good evening, Master Namjoon.", The hybrid greeted and Namjoon raised his hand in greeting, before he began to rummage through his pants pockets.

Yoongi's heart skipped a beat as Leo looked at him for the first time. Wonshik stood next to Leo and put an arm around his shoulder. "This is Min Yoongi, Namjoon's best friend," Wonshik told him, and Yoongi's heart pounded painfully in his chest as Leo told him to have a good evening as well. The way he pronounced his name brought his blood to boil and Yoongi wanted to slap himself in the face as he felt how he got hard in his trousers.

Perhaps at this moment, he shouldn't imagine his host and his indescribably beautiful hybrid during sex. Leo gracefully riding on Wonshik, while he was moaning with this feathery voi-

Yoongi shut his eyes and shook his head briefly. He hoped that he hadn't flushed red, but both Leo and Wonshik had already turned away from him.

Leo's gaze was fixed on Jimin, which had pulled his head between his shoulders and hid a little behind Yoongi. "Yoongis hybrid is named Jimin, I just thought he was a Dioptas and wondered as he didn't speak," Wonshik said, laughing softly. Leo's look was still fixed on Jimin's face, and Jimin made himself a little smaller behind Yoongi.

Yoongi looked surprised over his shoulder and noticed the fearful expression on the face of his hybrid. "Jimin, what's wrong?" He asked, but Jimin meowed miserably and then hid his face at his shoulder again. Yoongi frowned at the strange behavior of his pet but didn't have time to say anything about it.

"So that hybrid over there is from prince Minhyuk?" Sanghyuk asked, pointing at the other hybrid that Yoongi hadn't noticed before. The hybrid had previously been sitting next to Leo on another large beanbag, and since Yoongi's eyes were glued to Leo the whole time, he had simply forgotten, that Leo wasn't alone up here. Wonshik looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Yes, this is Minhyuk's hybrid Wonho, as I said, we like to leave the two up here while the party is going on. It's not as loud as below and no one can touch them unauthorized.”

Yoongi looked at the hybrid, who had raised up a little while Wonshik was introducing him. He differed from Leo in many aspects. For beginners, he didn't look quite that fragile but had clearly more muscles. His hair was as white as his skin. He had very small ears and a bushy, very soft-looking tail with white fur. 

Wonho's nipples were pierced, too. Small rings hung from the delicate buds, fastened with a thin chain to a black leather collar. In the middle of the collar was the lozenge-shaped emblem of the royal family, a lion's head on royal blue. His upper body was completely naked, but he had wrapped a light blue cloth around his waist. Yoongi couldn't see the brand at his hip from the distance. On the wrist he wore no jewelry but leather cuffs, with silver rings, matching his collar.

"We should sit down, come on." Wonshik finally suggested, and they took the few steps to the inviting seats. Leo's eyes lingered on Jimin's face all the time. The other two hybrids didn't seem to fear something, and Yoongi tried not to think about Jimin's strange behavior, maybe his little one was just a bit nervous in the presence of the two Dioptas.

"Here hyung!" Namjoon shouted to Yoongi's right, waving a few very crumpled, quad paper pages in front of Wonshik's nose. Yoongi had to suppress the impulse to sigh loudly. He wondered how someone like Namjoon would survive in his job if he handled all the important documents like his, oh so highly praised, rap lyrics. 

Wonshik didn't seem to mind the condition of the paper at all because he took them and unfolded them carefully without saying anything. Leo joined Wonho on the huge pillow and placed his head on Wonshik's thigh, who automatically began to stroke Leos head with his left hand while reading Namjoons texts.

Even from the lying position Leo's gaze was on Jimin the whole time, who had made himself comfortable on the soft carpet between Yoongi's legs and thus practically concealed his erection.  
While Wonshik was reading the lyrics, no one said a word, and Yoongi used the time to force himself to think of something horribly unerotic, but it didn't work very well with a lightly clothed Leo right in front of his eyes.

He glanced at the two hybrids again and noticed why the eyes of them were so expressive, it was because they were wearing eye make up. The hybrids of his father wore makeup all the time, but with them being females this was pretty normal. Yoongi had never thought about having Jimin putting on makeup as well - at least not until now.

Yoongi imagined, how Jimin may look with his eyes framed with dark makeup and how the color would smear a little when his eyes would start watering as Jimin sat at his feet... the beautiful lips strained around Yoongi's erection while fighting against his gag reflex. Yoongi clawed his hands painfully into his thighs so he could focus his thoughts on the pain. It took a little bit, but finally, he had himself back under control so that he could lift his eyes again, his gaze fell directly back onto the beautiful Dioptas.

Yoongi's eyes lingered unusually long at the piercings of them. Dr. Jung had told Yoongi that Jimin was above-averagely sensitive at his nipples and that he should think about getting them pierced. Last week as they had enjoyed some quiet moments between the sheets Yoongi had enjoyed the cute sounds which Jimin couldn't contain whenever Yoongi was playing with his nipples, but it had never occurred to him to actually follow the advice of the doctor.

Yoongi looked back and forth between Wonhos and Jimin's chest, trying to figure out how his little pet might look with such rings around his delicate nubs. He bit at his lower lip as he felt his pants tighten again. He really should stop following these thoughts while sitting in a private lounge with a member of the royal family.

What was going on with him today? He surely owed this heightened sexual desire to the mixture between the sight of the Dioptas and the wine he had at dinner. He cursed internally.

When Wonshik finished reading, he rocked his head thoughtfully. "Not bad. Here and there you have to rework some lines a bit to build up a better flow, but apart from that I think it's really good.", He praised Namjoon and his face instantly shone like the rising sun. "I particularly like this passage here," he said, showing Namjoon a few lines, which he found especially well written. Namjoon grabbed the papers and put them back into his pant pocket, which added a few more wrinkles to the already crumpled paper and he looked as satisfied as if he had recovered the best score on an exam.

When Yoongi realized that Wonshik wasn't distracted anymore, he cleared his throat softly. "It seems like you and prince Minhyuk are not afraid of leaving Leo and Wonho all alone up here, what if they would, uhm" He asked embarrassed, gesturing a little with his arms. 

Everyone immediately knew what Yoongi was aiming at and every gaze fixed very curious on Wonshik. He shook his head, laughing. "Your right, Dioptas may have an increased sexual desire, but when a Hybrid isn't in heat, it's mainly like us humans. And even when they are in heat, there wouldn't be a problem at all, since they couldn't smell each other very well in the truest sense of the word, so we don't need to worry." He explained, and Namjoon looked at the two hybrids intensively, as if he just noticed their presence. Yoongi rolled his eyes, thinking that the head of his best friend most likely had been filled up exclusively with ' have to show Wonshik my lyrics' the whole time until now.

"I know Leo is a panther, but what genes does Wonho have?" Namjoon asked, and Wonshik grinned. "Guess." He just said, and Namjoon narrowed his eyes and studied the ears and the tail of Wonho more precisely. "If you say they can not smell each other, he's has to be a Canidae. It could be a wolf, but they have bigger ears. So it must be an animal from a cold region. Maybe an Arctic fox?" He guessed, and Wonshik raised his thumb. "The candidate gets 100 points," he said contentedly, and Namjoon's face beamed as if he got another good score.

"If you praise Namjoon that much, his ego will soon no longer fit into this room." Yoongi grinned. Wonshik looked at Yoongi briefly, then laughed. "I'll remember ur insult Yoongi." Namjoon pulled a face and pointed at Yoongi. "Next time I will leave you at home!"

"Speaking of what, why didn't you follow one of my invitations until today?" Wonshik asked, twitching thoughtfully at Leo's ear, whereupon the hybrid closed his eyes and purred. Yoongi instantly blushed as everyone turned their attention to him and he wondered how he could answer this question without making a fool out of himself.

"Uh, I didn't have a hybrid back then," he murmured, after a minute, quite lame and Wonshik looked at him dumbfounded. "I've also invited you to normal parties," he said, tilting his head, and the red in Yoongis face intensified. "Yoongi doesn't like gatherings, hyung. Besides, he hates aristocrats, he thinks they're all sno- "  
\- "Namjoon!", Yoongi interrupted, and he wished a hole would open up and swallow him. Namjoon lowered the finger which he had raised in an instructive pose and grinned silently.

Wonshik laughed so loudly at Yoongi's heated face that Leo's head almost slid off his lap. When he had calmed down, he had a serious expression. "No need to hide it. Arrogant vermin, right? I fully agree with you, or why do you think, I don't give a shit about the royal etiquette on my parties? I want all to have fun and wouldn't like it, if some of my guests have to crawl in the dust in front of others."

Wonshik shrugged his shoulders resignedly, adding, "'Prince' Minhyuk, had to get used to the fact that nobody here is throwing himself at his feet. He may be the son of the most influential family in our country, but I already threw sand into his beautiful face when he got on my nerve as a child and I will do so again when he behaves like an asshole in my house."

Wonho, in response to these words, let out a faint dissatisfied growl but didn't move otherwise. Yoongi's mouth had opened incredulous over Wonshik's words. He simply hadn't expected something like this from a man with his status. Especially not about a prince.

"Well, what's up Wonho, will you go snitch on me to Minhyuk again?" Wonshik asked amusedly in the direction of the hybrid, whose tail and ears twitched as he was addressed directly. At first he didn't answer, but looked at Wonshik with wary eyes. "Yes, I think I will," he replied with a strange sleepy way of talking, and when he grinned, the resemblance to a fox was hard to miss. Yoongi was surprised by the dark voice of the fox because she didn't want to suit his appearance. "Wretched blabbermouth!" Wonshik growled, sticking out his tongue. Wonho just grinned a little wider and his tail waggled a few times joyfully.

"Uh, may I ask a question to Leo and Wonho?" Yoongi asked nervously, and Leo opened his eyes and lifted his upper body to signalize that he was listening. Yoongi felt himself immediately mauled again by these mesmerizing eyes. Yoongi waited a moment to see if Wonshik would say anything against it, but he didn't seem to mind, so he thought about how to express it best.

"Well, the thing is. When I went to see Dr. Jung with Jimin for the first time, he recommended getting Jimin's nipples pierced." He looked briefly at the faces of Sanghyuk and Namjoon before biting his lower lip. "I didn't pay attention to the topic before, but it seems like not many people are getting their hybrids pierced, right? I'd like to know if it hurts a lot because I ..." He looked down at his hands and felt a new glow of heat rise up in his face. "Now that I've seen it, I have to admit that I ... well, you know 'like' it?"

He'd really wanted to say, 'I think it's erotic' but he couldn't bring the words to cross his lips. When he was alone with Namjoon, he had no problem at all talking about preferences, but he had just met Sanghyuk just like Wonshik and he didn't know what the two of them would think of him after such a revelation.

"Kinky bastard," Namjoon wheezed shaking his head and crossing his arms in front of his chest, pushing his lower lip forwards as if he would judge Yoongi. "Oh, you be quiet. At least I'm not the one to put Jimin into cute pink princess dresses while having sex!", Yoongi cursed and now it was Namjoon time to blush deeply. Jin also hid the face in his hands refusing to show his heated face for several minutes.

Wonshik and Sanghyuk looked alternately between the two friends and finally began to laugh at the same time. "Oh please give away more private details, it's really interesting.", Wonshik chuckled after he had calmed down and Yoongi scratched his head quite embarrassed. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said sheepishly, then looked at the two hybrids.

Leo who had patiently waited until there was silence again, looked intensely at Jimin before he answered in Yoongi's direction. "Yes, it hurt, but if it made my master happy, so I gladly endured the pain and would do it again at any time." Leo turned to Wonshik and gave him a look full of warmth and obeisance.

Wonho played with a strand of hair near his right ear. When Yoongi looked at him, he stopped and considered what to reply. Again he took his time before he answered something, but finally, he said, "Master Minhyuk has left me the choice. I don't like visiting the doctor because I'm afraid of needles." His white face turned pink around his nose as he confessed this. "I finally agreed, when I realized how much Master Minhyuk wanted it. It hurt, but I have already suffered worse pain before.”

He let his hand slide down the upper part of his body, and started tracing the outline of his brand with his index finger. Yoongi could now see that it looked like a big X with two diagonally lines which led down from the two upper corners so that the upper part of the X resembled an M. Leo who intently listened to Wonho's words, followed his gaze nodding. "He is right, getting the brand did hurt a lot more." He agreed, and Yoongi's mouth twitched as he imagined the pain of the hybrids once again.

"You could ask Jimin himself what he thinks about it, or not?" Wonho suddenly suggested, and Yoongi looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean? How? He can't talk to me," Yoongi said, noting that Wonho looked at Jimin now rather vigorously. "But Leo could do so. Jimin may be a simple house cat, but hybrids of the same genetic root can talk to each other." Wonshik explained, and Yoongi looked surprised. Jimin had the genes of a black puma and not a domestic cat, but Yoongi was just so excited that he didn't think it was important to correct this statement.

The only hybrid Jimin got in contact with since he bought him was Jin, and although they sniffed each other and most likely get along very well, it didn't seem like they communicated with each other at all. "If Leo and I weren't able to use the human language, we couldn't talk to each other. Because he's a Felidae and I'm a Canidae," Wonho said first pointing at Leo and then at himself. "There are basic signals we understand, for example, hissing or growling, but we can't really talk."

Namjoon leaned forward curiously. "So you can't talk to Jimin, but you could understand Jin and Ken, right?" He asked, and Wonho nodded. "Yes exactly.”

Sanghyuk hugged Ken, who was sitting on the ground in front of him, breathing a kiss on his hair. "I don't know, sometimes I really wanna know what Ken is thinking about. I just want to know if he feels comfortable with me." He sighed and Wonho grinned. "I think I should refrain from voicing the thoughts of the two at the moment out loud. Ken is close to his heat, right?" Sanghyuk raised his head taken aback and exchanged a quick look with Namjoon. "Um, yes, in about two weeks it's time again. But how do you know?" Wonho nodded toward the two hybrids on the ground. "They told me and... His smell is already quite strong as if it's about to start very soon."

Namjoon and Sanghyuk looked at each other in surprise, they knew about Ken's cycle but something else confused them. "But don't you have to bark, or whine to speak to each other?" Namjoon asked, and Wonho smiled mysteriously. "As long as hybrids are in intervisibility, a glance into the eyes, gestures, facial expressions or often the smell is enough to know how the other hybrid is feeling, or what he is thinking about. Communication among animals is much simpler and not as complex as between humans. We only bark when we communicate over longer distances, or to warn each other of danger."

While Wonho had explained all this, Yoongi didn't even realize that Leo had long been talking to Jimin. Only when Jimin squinted his eyes and meowed loud and fearfully, Yoongi turned his attention completely back to his hybrid. "Why is he so afraid of you?" Yoongi asked Leo, soothingly patting Jimins head as he sat trembling between Yoongis legs.

“I don't know, Master Yoongi," Leo whispered with a strange piercing look that got Yoongi shivering. He didn't know why, but for some reason, he couldn't quite believe Leo's words. "Did ... did you ask him? About the whole piercing thing?", He asked with a queasy feeling in the stomach. "He's okay with it. If you would desire him more with the piercings, he would really like to fulfill your wish." Leo's voice was unusually cold, though still light and feathery. It was as if he was reciting something memorized and not reproducing anything that had just been said to him. 

Jimin meowed loudly and buried his face at Yoongi's thigh. He didn't have the time to think about the strange behavior of Jimin again, because- "Oh damn, how fast time passes, we should get back downstairs now. The auction should start at any moment." said Wonshik suddenly after a look at his expensive watch.

They all rose, except for Leo and Wonho, who remained sitting comfortably, and hurried to follow Wonshik down the stairs. Before Yoongi went after the others, he took a last look at the two beautiful hybrids. Jimin meowed softly, and Yoongi shook his head, dazed, as he finally broke away from the sight to follow the other.

*+*

„Today you acted really strange, I had the feeling to not know you at all. Why did you look at the little one, like this?“ Wonho asked after they were alone again at the lounge and Leo, who threw an almost longing look at the upper steps of the stairs, sighed heavily. "We talked," he replied quietly, his voice a little dreamy as if he was talking to himself and not to Wonho.

Wonho frowned. He wasn't really interested in what the little Citrin boy had to say, but it was like always really hard to make conversation with Leo and he was terribly bored, so right now every subject was fine.

"I'm one hundred percent sure he's a Dioptas." Leo murmured, tilting his head a little. Wonho looked intently at his opponent. "But he doesn't speak, right?" He asked, still bored and turned to lay on his back to gaze at the ceiling. The entire ceiling was equipped with borrowed light, through which one could see the starry night sky outside.

"I don't know. I tried to make him say something," Leo replied, his face getting a grim expression. "Oh, really?" Wonho asked, and Leo nodded. "I told his master that he would like the piercings, although he asked me to say he doesn't want them. It seems like he's afraid of the pain."

Wonho wheezed and looked at Leo. "That's mean of you. Why didn't you tell him the truth? You can't just lie to a human." Wonho turned around and looked at Leo from underneath his fringe. "I always thought that you were suuuuuch a good boy, after all, you know, you're getting praised by everyone, right? But then here you are, lying to a human without getting red, just to get a Citrin talking from which you only think that he's able to do so." He grinned broadly whereby the fox in him showed himself again clearly in his facial features. "What would you have done if he really started speaking? Wouldn't your little lie be noticed then?"

Leo pulled the corners of his mouth downwards at the thought of getting caught lying in front of his master. "I could have explained it just as much as I did to you," he murmured, finally breaking the view from the stairs.

“It reeks of dog here," he perceived suddenly disgusted, got up and went to the rod with which one could open the windows at the ceiling. Wonho turned back onto his back and chuckled. "Yeah, Ken's pheromones are even stronger than yours." Wonho giggled, and Leo stopped as if frozen and looked at him with mild panic in his eyes.

Wonho didn't notice Leo's reaction, because he said, "You should have met Ken, haven't you? He is from the same school as you. His heat partner is really pretty, I'd hit on him when I'm honest." He chuckled again. "Speaking of heat partners, we've known each other for so long now and you never told me about yours. Does he look good? What's his name?"

Wonho turned his head questioningly to Leo, and finally, he noticed that something wasn't right with him. "Leo?"

When no reaction came, Wonho rolled around again, got up and walked towards the other. "Hey, you're alright?" He asked cautiously, and he saw Leo's eyes reacting wildly.

"What did you say?" He asked a little dazed, and Wonho now frowned, confused. "I asked who your heat partner is, and if he looks good," he repeated his words, but Leo shook his head. "No no. Before that. What did you say about the pheromones?" His voice sounded more energetic than usual, a little despair swinging in it.

"Um ..." Wonho was more than just worried about the panther's strange behavior, he hadn't seen his friend rigid and anxiously like this before. "I said that Ken's are just a bit stronger than yours?" He murmured hesitantly, and Leo closed his eyes, tormented. "How intense is it?" Leo asked, his voice trembling. Wonho took a step closer and tugged Leo's hand away from the rod. He sniffed a little, then shrugged. "Cats smell different, so I can't say exactly, but um, I would estimate somewhere this month. Why? That's great, isn't it? The heat is the best time of the year.”

Leo was breathing heavily, his fists were clenched and his face had assumed a hard expression. Wonho had the feeling the other would sink again into his dark thoughts, which is why he put a hand on Leo's shoulder soothingly. He was trembling.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Wonho asked hesitantly and Leo's gaze was clear again. They walked back quietly to the large seat cushions and Leo sat on it, still a little stiff. Wonho moved closer to him and took his hand. "Should I go search for Wonshik?"

The sound of Wonshik's name seemed to make Leo even more restless. "No! No, don't," he whimpered, and suddenly he looked like someone who was nearing a mental breakdown.

"Hey, okay, calm down. What the hell is going on with you?" Wonho was getting more and more uneasy. "Do you promise me to keep it a secret?" Leo whispered, looking at Wonho so piercingly that he had to swallow. "No word of it to master Minhyuk and certainly not to Wonshik. Promise it!"

Something in Wonho was uncomfortable because of Leo's emphasis. He had no secrets at all with his master, and he really didn't want to start making any. What could be so terribly important to Leo that he even kept it a secret to his own master? Wonho had always believed that Leo loved Wonshik so desperately that he would even die for him. Why, did he have secrets he didn't want to tell him about, then?

He was reluctant to make a promise, which he might not be able to hold, but he felt like Leo had been dragging this secret around with him already for a very long time, and perhaps had never had a chance to trust anyone enough to tell it to somebody. Wonho chewed nervously on his lower lip.

"Fine, I promise," he finally said, and Leo's face relaxed slightly. He looked quickly in the direction of the steps before he leaned forward. "Actually my heat shouldn't be back at least two months from now," He whispered so softly that even Wonho who had a very good hearing had to perk up his ears. 

He found nothing really exciting about Leo's revelation, which was why he merely raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't Wonshik like your heat partner either, or why would it be such a big problem if he had to take care of you a bit sooner?" He had spoken at a normal rate, but Leo held his finger to his mouth in panic and so Wonho started whispering, too.

Leo bit his lower lip, his eyes dancing anxiously. He seemed to struggle with himself, not sure if he should really tell Wonho about these things. Finally, after an eternity as it seemed, he surpassed his inner struggle. His voice broke a little as he said, "I don't have a heat partner."

It was such a simple sentence, five words, but they were so important. Wonho opened his mouth. "What?" He hissed completely disbelieving and stared at Leo speechless. "But how ... what do you do when you're in heat? I mean ..." He didn't know what to say, and Leo glanced over his shoulder again at the stairs, perhaps listening, for steps indicating someone was coming up the stairs. 

"Listen to me and do not interrupt me, okay?" Leo whispered urgently and Wonho closed his mouth and nodded, he was now curiously tense. "The thing is, I always told Wonshik, that I don't need a heat partner and it worked perfectly well all these years. When I felt the fever, Wonshik took me to a special room in the basement. He left me alone there, at my own request, and only one of the servants looked out for me twice a day to bring me water and something to eat."

Wonho got goosebumps at the thought alone. He had so many questions burning on the tip of his tongue, but he listened attentively.

"I've passed through the days and, as far as I could, I've taken care of my own desires. There are special toys you know... "

Leo blushed at the thought, and Wonho knew exactly what kind of toys Leo was referring to. If for a variety of reasons, a hybrid couldn't be together with his heat partner when the heat stroke, it was possible to use huge dildos, which had a large knot at the base of the shaft. Wonho himself had never had to use such toys because his heat partner had always looked after him, but he knew from conversations with other hybrids that it was just a transitional solution because it couldn't replace the sex with another hybrid.

"It helped me to scrape along, through the worst time. You know it had been enough all these years if I only thought hard enough of Wonshik. When I thought about how proud he would be of me when I go through this pain for him so he doesn't have to share me with someone else.”

Leo's eyes were moist and something in Wonho's chest clenched painfully when he imagined the inconceivable agony he would have to face if his heat partner wasn't there to satisfy his desire.

"Everything went well until now. I really thought I could do it. Although I was separated for seven days from Wonshik down there in this horrible cold room fighting against the cravings of my body, which drove me slowly into madness, it was okay. After these days, I was always so proud because I won over it for Wonshik, but the heat cycles are getting longer and coming at shorter intervals."

A single tear ran down Leo's cheek and Wonho wiped her away gently. He couldn't feel the emotions of the other when he looked into the desperate eyes of Leo, but he could still feel his pain and despair in every pore of his body when he thought of how hard it was to get through the heat alone. Leo's voice broke again as he spoke and the trembling had increased significantly.

"What am I supposed to do?" Leo asked when he had finished, and it was a rhetorical question since Wonho was sure, the other knew he couldn't really help him. Of course, he could sit here and listen to the older one, but he really couldn't help him with his problem. It seemed to be a rather determined and hopeless situation for Leo.

"Just so I understand correctly, you've never slept with another hybrid, like...ever?" Wonho asked carefully, and Leo nodded slowly. "And this is because you don't want Wonshik to have to share you with someone else, even if its just a heat partner, right?" Another nod.

Wonho sighed deeply, drawing his eyebrows together. "Does anyone know about it? Except me?" He asked a little helpless and Leo surprised him into nodding again. "Dr. Jung knows," he whispered, and Wonho looked at him in astonishment.

Leos' mouth escaped a desperate sound, it sounded like a mixture of a sad meow and a sob. "He told me it was going to happen. That the cycle may shorten itself more and more. The genes of Dioptas and Citrin are changed for the purpose to increase our sexual desire. Nevertheless, we are basically bred exclusively for this reason. He said he knew no Dioptas except me, who deliberately decided to belong only to his master and wants to suppress his animal desire for him."

Wonho was torn between the pity he felt and the desire to shake Leo and bring him to his senses. Basically, the other man had maneuvered himself into this mess and there was only one way to get out of his position. But how should he make it clear to Leo?

"You have to tell Wonshik," he said leveled. Leo's eyes widened in horror and he started to shake his head in panic. He wanted to say something, but Wonho raised his index finger and looked at him urgently.

"No, now you're listening to me, okay? Your love for Wonshik in all honors, but what you're doing to yourself is cruel and if he knew about how much you're suffering, he would have searched for a fitting partner a long time ago. He trusts you and assumes everything is okay, but if this problem goes on like that, he'll find out soon."

Leo slapped his hands over his ears in an attempt to hide from Wonho's words, but he still heard them and felt as if the other would poke his heart with many small needles. "He will soon realize that something is wrong with your cycle and take you to Dr. Jung. Can you imagine how disappointed he will be when he gets to know the truth? The truth of you lying to him all these years? Do you know how he will feel, standing in front of Dr. Jung as the cruel master, who doesn't care about the natural drive of his hybrid at all? Leo no matter how much you want it to happen, you can't become a human being for him!" Leo was really crying now, but Wonho was in a rage so he couldn't stop.

"At some point, the animal in you will win the upper hand and get back what you have denied it all these years. Besides, I really think it can't be healthy for your body if you have a high fever for so many days at a time. Should I tell you something? I also don't like it to share the bed with someone else than master Minhyuk, but I still enjoy the days with Hyungwon to the fullest. During the heat, you're hardly yourself, it's like you are in someone else's body, and the desire for your heat partner overlays everything, even the feelings of guilt and thoughts that you may have at the moment about cheating on Wonshik. With a heat partner, the heat takes only two to three days and then you can fully concentrate on Wonshik again, lie in his arms and tell him how much you love him." Wonho took Leo's face with both hands and looked at him piercingly.

"Listen, if you're really in love with him, you have to tell him the truth!" 

*+*

Yoongi had often been on different kind of auctions, but most of these had been about antiques instead of creatures. An unpleasant feeling spread in his stomach, when the son of the hybrids dealer, Hongbin - as he knew by now - climbed the few steps up on the pedestal and positioned himself in the middle of the room for everyone to see.

Since neither Yoongi nor his two companions wanted to bid, he, Sanghyuk and Namjoon had just taken a seat again at one of the tables like before, from which they could observe the show. In front of the pedestal, some rows of chairs had been set up, and the bidders all sat with numbers in hand on them, while the remaining guests grouped themselves around them for a better view.

Before it started Wonshik directed a few words to all his guests and informed them that the auction would begin shortly. Thereupon they turned down the music and the excited chatter of the people got to Yoongi's ear more clearly and reminded him of a visit to the city's market square.

Yoongi looked up at the frightened hybrids on the pedestal and swallowed. All these people sure caused a lot of stress to these animals, especially because all the attention was resting upon them now. The people laughed and whispered excitedly, pointing at the animals with their fingers. As the host, Wonshik had placed himself in the first row of the bidders his arms folded in front of his chest.

Yoongi couldn't shake off the feeling that Wonshik would like to end the auction as quickly as possible. Yoongi hadn't seen his face this tense the whole evening. He didn't have the time to deepen this thought further, as the light got dimmed and a light spot was pointed at the pedestal and the bidders. It was only now that Yoongi saw that Hongbin was wearing a headset because he could hear his voice clearly over everyone else in the room.

“Welcome, dear guests, to today's auction. As you can see next to me," He made a welcoming gesture toward the hybrids. "I have brought you three particularly beautiful specimen, which are up for bidding at the following auction. As in every auction, the highest bid gets the ware and as always I only accept cash for payment.”

Yoongi raised his eyebrow and wheezed contemptuously. This was ridiculous. Hybrids like the ones up there cost a fortune, who for heaven's sake would bring such an amount of money to a party?

“Do you see these guys over there?" Namjoon asked after hearing Yoongi's reaction and pointed to the corner where they had met Sanghyuk. A lot of men in shapeless black suits were sitting there now, and they definitely didn't look like guests of the party. All of them had, as far as Yoongi could see over the distance, a button in their ear, like the security man on the stairs to the gallery. The big, silver suitcases next to each of them were much better to see. Each man had a suitcase, which was attached to him with handcuffs.

"They keep an eye on the money while the bidders are enjoying themselves," Namjoon said without waiting for a reply from Yoongi. "Wonshik is the CEO of a security company, that's the reason why there is always this much security at his parties." And now after Namjoon had mentioned it, Yoongi noticed all the men dressed in black suits at every entrance who'd been somehow invisible to him in the colorful dancing crowd before.

Hongbin was just showing the first hybrid of to the crowd and Yoongi could hardly look, as he showed very detailed what the buyer of this hybrid could expect from him as soon as he was in his possession. Luckily, Yoongi's attention was distracted anyway because Jimin had begun to tremble so strongly that his teeth were clattering. So that Yoongi could spare himself the presentation, which was certainly completely degrading for the hybrid. 

Jimin had fixed his view at the podium, eyes widened, his breathing irregular. Yoongi gently put his hand on Jimin's naked shoulder but his hybrid twitched so hard that Yoongi pulled the eyebrows together clearly confused.

"Jiminie, it's just me, what's going on?" He whispered with concern, stretching out his hand to gently stroke over Jimin's head. Jimin focused his gaze on Yoongi, which seemed to soothe him. He meowed in a low voice and came a little closer, his head tilted so Yoongi could better pet him. Yoongi moved his chair back a little and tapped his thighs, whereupon Jimin laid down over them with his upper body. Yoongi smiled as he felt Jimin hiding his face at Yoongi's belly.

The auction was in full go, and the first hybrid had already been sold to a gentleman from the third row who looked very satisfied. "Do you know the buyer?" Yoongi asked his best friend, and Namjoon nodded briefly.

“Kim Jonghyun, he is remotely related to Wonshik. As far as I know, he specializes in the breeding and training of racing horses and thus makes a fortune. I've seen him on a couple of occasions, but he never took a hybrid with him." Sanghyuk, who had turned his eyes away from the auction, nodded to their conversation. "True, he never had one, even though he could buy several if he wanted. It's really strange." he murmured, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Namjoon shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe he has some at home, but he doesn't want to bring them to parties because he is just as obsessed with them as with his horses. I heard his estate to be guarded better than a prison." Yoongi looked alternately between Sanghyuk and Namjoon.

The man they'd talked about stood up, went over to the security guards, and brought his suitcase to the front to pay the newly acquired hybrid at one of Hongbin's men.

Meanwhile, the second hybrid had also been sold and Yoongi's stomach twisted uncomfortably when he saw Jackson getting up to collect his suitcase. He cast a glance at the still very young-looking hybrid, who had slumped down trembling all over on the podium after he had been sold, and was no longer presented to the crowd by Hongbin. He was actually too cute to work in a brothel. Yoongi found himself grimacing as he pitied the animal.

But wait a second. Since when exactly did he pity hybrids? It was exactly what they were bred for, right?

Until a week ago, Yoongi was still completely unaffected by seeing a hybrid that was treated badly. When he had picked up Jimin at Mr. Lee, his thoughts were just full of how good the sex with his new attractive toy might be. How he would have his fun with him in every possible way, and how he would punish him if he wouldn't obey his every command. There wasn't pity for the animal in him at all. He had not thought about Jimin's own will because he knew that the hybrid was designed to fulfill Yoongi's wishes without having wishes of his own.

He didn't need to punish Jimin so far since the hybrid was really struggling to meet all his wishes immediately. One hard slap on his bottom was the hardest thing Jimin had ever had to endure after he had woken Yoongi up unpleasantly by jumping on top of his bed on the first morning.

Yoongi, who was absolutely not a morning person, had to make it very clear to his pet that he had to wait for his morning petting till Yoongi had at least had his first cup of coffee and read the newspaper.

Since that first morning, Jimin had always come to his bed very quietly to wake him with a soft kiss as soon as his butler Kyungsoo had brought breakfast as well as the newspaper. When Yoongi sat up on his bed and rubbed his eyes, Jimin went back to his little basket and waited patiently for Yoongi to call him after he was done with his morning routine. He had threatened Jimin a couple of times with a caning, because of minor offenses, but that had been enough for the hybrid to not show the unwanted behavior again.

Jimin really had been trained well and Yoongi was very proud of him. He had already grown so much on him in only one week that the idea of punishing Jimin for wrong behavior, gave Yoongi an uneasy feeling. And also today's encounter with the Dioptas had changed Yoongi's view on hybrids.

Those animals were no longer as simple-minded as the earlier breeds. They became more similar to humans especially their thoughts and sentiments, and he began to think about how this kind of slavery shouldn't be allowed anymore.

He reached for the glass of wine on the table in front of him and drained its content in one go. He really shouldn't think too much about this whole matter. He couldn't change the fate of the three hybrids on the pedestal as well as so many others. He wasn't the king and hence couldn't enact new laws, but if he had that power, one of his first actions would be to ban such degrading auctions.

"And now we come to the most valuable hybrid I got for you today, ladies and gentlemen." Hongbin went to the Dioptas in the middle of the pedestal and pulled him up by his arm in a rough manner.

“He's a Dioptas and was trained under the name 'Jongdae' by the EXO school. As all Dioptas, this specimen as well owns the genes of a rare animal within him, in this case, that of a cheetah. As with all hybrids with genes of predatory cats, he is very proud and will not bend easily to your orders. But many buyers are looking for a challenge like this, right?"

As if it were rehearsed, Jongdae hissed threateningly in Hongbins direction, who wasn't even slightly impressed and just twisted the arm of the hybrid painfully behind his back. Jongdae groaned. There was an eager and contented murmur from the audience.

"He's got a fantastic singing voice," Hongbin said, and everyone waited curiously, but Jongdae didn't seem to be in the mood to show his skills. Hongbin shook his head disappointed, shoved his hand into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a small device which he then pushed against Jongdae's hip. An ear-piercing scream escaped the hybrid and Hongbin smiled.

"As I said, ladies and gentlemen. Predatory cats are always a little stubborn and must be reprimanded more often.” 

Jimin on Yoongi's lap flinched terribly due to the scream, he had flattened his ears, raised his head alerted, and had his view focused at the podium. Yoongi tried to stroke over the head of his hybrid soothingly, but apparently, he couldn't end the trembling easily this time.

"What did he do to him?" Yoongi asked, confused because he couldn't see a trace of an injury on Jongdaes body, but Hongbin must've caused him real pain. Sanghyuk sighed heavily, his mouth clenched into a hard line. "He used a taser on him. I don't like to admit it, but it's the best way to make hybrids submit. Most respond very sensitive to electricity."

Yoongi, horrified by the news, turned his gaze back to the podium where Jongdae had finally begun to sing. It was a sad song, a wonderful ballad from which Yoongi was sure he'd just heard it somewhere. He got goosebumps from the voice, and the audience had also held their breath. Nobody spoke, everyone listened to the song, and when Jongdae ended after a verse, the whole hall applauds enthusiastically.

"Wonderful, right?" Hongbin asked the crowd, and there was a murmur of approval. He reached down towards Jongdaes penis and rubbed it a little in his hand. "Just look, nowadays, it's rare that hybrids aren't circumcised. His glans is very sensitive." He pulled back the foreskin and presented the pink glans for everyone to see.

Jongdae closed his eyes humiliated and his nostrils quivered. The blush spread from his face, down his neck until it reached his shoulders, and his whole body trembled in shame. Just as Hongbin wanted to turn the hybrid around to show the narrow anus to his enthusiastic buyers, Wonshik stood up.

"Hongbin I think the buyers have seen enough. Just stop it already.", he said loudly over the crowd, and they all fell silent. Hongbin was a bit perplexed, apparently, it had never happened before that his show had been interrupted by Wonshik.

"Um, well, I think Wonshik is right, ladies and gentlemen. All the other advantages of this wonderful Dioptas, the buyer has to explore for himself.", he said grimly and turned Jongdae around again. "Well, it may be offered. Since Dioptas are still very rare and their intelligence is not inferior to humans, the starting bid will be ten thousand."

Yoongi got sick when he witnessed how everybody scrambled to get the hybrid, the sum quickly rising to the seven-digit range. He looked down at Jimin in his lap and raised his head to breathe a soft kiss on his full lips.

"I'm sorry you had to witness something like this, little one." He whispered only for Jimin to hear, and Jimin mewled softly. As if to say 'it's okay'.

"Sold to prince Yixing!" Hongbin shouted, pointing at the prince in the front row that had sat between prince Minhyuk and Wonshik.

"Just like Wonshik foretold," Namjoon huffed, resting his head in his palm. Yoongi and Sanghyuk nodded mutely. The end of the auction wasn't a big surprise, really.

Hongbin said goodbye with an exaggerated bow and went down the few steps of the podium. The hall was well lit again and the volume of the music raised a little. From all directions servants came into the room, the same ones which had exchanged the tablecloths before, to carry off the chairs, so that the whole dance floor was available for the guests again. As the chattering mass of people dispersed throughout the room, Yoongi, Namjoon, and Sanghyuk witnesses how Hongbin, insistingly gesticulated while speaking in front of Wonshik. Seemingly upset about something.

"Maybe we should go home soon? It looks like Jimin is really stressed out because of the party." Namjoon said while looking at the hybrid, which was still slightly trembling over Yoongi's lap and he made an agreeing sound.

Just as they were about to get up, Yoongi suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. "Well look who we have here, good evening gentlemen.", said a well-known voice and as Yoongi looked up, he looked into the grinning face of Dr. Jung. "Hoseok!" They all shouted as if from one mouth, and the doctor raised his hand in greeting.

Hoseok's gaze fell, like that of the small group before, on the people in front of the podium, who were scrambling around Wonshik and his gaze darkened. "It was good that Wonshik ended this cruel auction. I've been preaching for more than a year on each and every party to stop these awful auctions, they are exposing the hybrids to nothing but unnecessary stress." Hoseok sighed, resting his left hand on his hip, his right hand holding a glass of wine.

"I hope Hongbin's performance, with the poor Dioptas, has displeased Wonshik enough to no longer approve auctions like this at his parties. To punish such an intelligent animal in front of so many eyes, just because it's completely scared and doesn't want to sing, that's hard to surpass in cruelty." Yoongi quietly agreed with Hoseok, but Hongbin would certainly not let his business be spoiled and he didn't know, how high Wonshik valued his friendship with the dealer.

They watched as the sold hybrids got necklaces from their new owners. "Jongdae and Taemin surely will do well with their new owners, but Yugyeom." Hoseok grimaced as he saw Jackson putting the black leather around the neck of the hybrid and fasten a leash to it.

"Jackson cares well for the hybrids that work for him. I'm often at the brothel to look after the health care there, but I think a brothel isn't a good place for a hybrid." Namjoon looked at Hoseok and nodded sadly. "Yes, your right, it is perhaps quite nice for humans who can't afford a hybrid for their own that clubs like the Papillon exist, so they can still have sex with one of them. But for the animals, it's a tough place.”

Hoseok's gaze wandered a little to the left, where prince Yixing stood with his new animal beside prince Minhyuk, and his expression darkened even more. Sanghyuk who followed Hoseok gaze raised his eyebrow in question. "Is there anything wrong with the prince, hyung?" Hoseok turned back to Sanghyuk and gritted his teeth, and the grip on his wine glass hardened.

"Was one of you ever at the Papillon?" He asked with a strangely high voice and they all shook their heads in unison. "Well, Jackson had to buy a new hybrid because the club is already booked out several months in advance," he explained, and Yoongi frowned. "Are hybrid brothels really paying off that well?" He asked surprised, but Hoseok shook his head.

"No, just this one. Jackson is good at handling his hybrids. He buys only very attractive ones, the price doesn't matter for him anymore, he only wants to meet the high standards of his customers. Then he gets the money for them back in no time. At first, his brothel was open for everyone, but now since he has only expensive hybrids in his assortment, all the nobles are going there to enjoy themselves, even if they financially could afford their own hybrid. Hybrids cost not only money but also time, which most noble don't want to spend on them just for having a little fun."

Namjoon wrinkled his nose, but before he could comment anything, Hoseok continued: "You all should know, that a few months ago even a Dioptas started working at the Papillon. But well... technically, he is owned by prince Minhyuk."

Everyone looked at Hoseok speechless and this reaction was quite justified. Only a few people out there could afford a Dioptas, they were still rare and therefore almost unaffordable. They just witnessed how much money a single animal of this class could be sold for. It was inconceivable to them all, how someone who called such a wonderful creature his own, could give it to a brothel to work there.

“W-why? Didn't he want him anymore?" Namjoon asked a little perplexed. Hoseok drank a sip of his wine before he answered. "No not in the least. He still belongs to the Prince, but he only needs him twice a year to satisfy the heat of his beloved hybrid Wonho. The rest of the time he has him working in Jackson's brothel. And believe me, you're not able to imagine how terrible this workplace is for a Dioptas."

Hoseok's eyes suddenly became very sad. "Well, of course, these animals are bred and prepared for a life as a sex slave, but especially Dioptas, which think and act very much like humans, hope until the end of their training that they get a loving master whom they can trust. A master which will be gentle with them. You must know, that the bond between a master and his Dioptas is much narrower than that of other classes."

At this Yoongi's stomach did a failed attempt at a somersault. How could someone actually be this cruel? If he were the owner of this Dioptas, and he was nearly as beautiful as Leo or Wonho, the last thing he would do to the poor hybrid would be putting him in a brothel, where every filthy person could get his dirty hands on him.

But he had expected nothing else from a member of the royal family. Yoongi had heard a lot of stories about them and thus had always tried to avoid contact with them - as it seemed, for a good reason. Yoongi took a quick look at Jimin who had started shaking again. "Namjoon," he said addressing his best friend and Namjoon nodded. They really should leave the party soon.

"Oh, you're leaving already?" Hoseok asked with a disappointing undertone and sipped at the glass in his hand. "Umm yes, Jimin is behaving really strange tonight," Yoongi explained, scratching his head at a loss for words. Hoseok put his glass on the table and hunkered down next to Yoongi so he could look more closely at Jimin.

“Well, my little one? A party is quite exciting, isn't it?" He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small flashlight with which he shone in Jimin's eyes. Jimin seemed scared by the doctor since he clawed his fingernails in Yoongi's leg.

"Ouch! Jimin, stop it!" Yoongi said, pulling Jimin up by his collar. The hybrid, who had apparently not noticed his behavior, immediately looked at him apologetically, his eyes widened in horror, and a cautious meow came over his lips. Hoseok smiled.

"Is Jimin like this since you've arrived here?" He asked interested, but Yoongi shook his head. "No, he started being strange when we went up the gallery to talk with Leo and Wonho." Hoseok frowned. "And now at the auction, he was so nervous. I mean, I can imagine that it's not exactly pleasant for a hybrid to see how one of them is displayed and sold in the way Hongbin did, but he seemed pretty frightened of something as if he had seen a ghost." Yoongi tried his best to describe the odd behavior and Hoseok nodded slowly.

"Say Yoongi, could I perhaps talk to you for a moment in private?" The doctor suddenly asked a little unexpected, and Yoongi felt the eyes of his friends boiling hot on him. "Sure," he said, stroking Jimin one last time gently over his head, whispering to him to be good while he was gone and then rose to follow Hoseok out into the garden.

They settled down on a bench under a large tree, where they could talk without being overheard. "So? What is this about?" Yoongi asked, with a longing look back into the lit ballroom. He didn't like the idea to leave Jimin alone for too long in his current state, so he wanted this conversation to be over quickly.

“Well," Hoseok began, and he dragged at the word a little as if he were not sure how to start. "The results of Jimin's blood test are back." He said, and Yoongi wanted to open his mouth with wide eyes, to ask if everything was all right, but Hoseok spoke immediately. "No need to worry, it's all right, he's in a good condition," he assured, and Yoongi tilted his head in confusion.

Why did Hoseok want to talk to him, if everything was fine?

"You're surely asking yourself why I want to talk to you if there is nothing wrong with the results, am I right?" Yoongi nodded a little impatiently, glancing again over to the ballroom.

"Well, there's something about Jimin's blood that puzzles me, and I think you should know about it," Hoseok said, and Yoongi's head twitched back to look at the other. "But you just said it was all right?" Hoseok shook his head. "When you brought Jimin, did the seller mentioned anything special about him? Have you asked how it can be that Jimin as a Citrin has blue eyes?"

Yoongi shrugged a little helplessly. "As I told you, I didn't know that only Dioptas should have this eye color until you mentioned it at Jimin's check-up. I liked Jimin's general appearance, especially his tanned skin, so I decided to buy him."

He tried to remember the day when he first laid his eyes on Jimin, his father had been talking with the salesman because Yoongi was too distracted by the pretty hybrid in the cage. 

“My father wanted me to choose another hybrid because Mr. Lee wanted a ridiculously high price for Jimin. I have no idea why, he didn't tell us and father were not willing to pay the price. So we thought it over for a few days. I thought I wouldn't get Jimin, but then my father went back to the store and could finally get him for a better price. We picked him up the same day I came to your office for a check-up."

Hoseok nodded and crossed his arms in front of his chest, seemingly thinking something over. "You know, I told you though that there are Citrin with blue eyes out there, but actually I've only read about this phenomenon so far but never seen one by myself. It is really a one in a million chance that a Citrin got blue eyes. And there is an even smaller chance for them to have the genes of predatory cats. It's not really surprising that your father should have to pay that much for Jimin." Hoseok explained, and Yoongi's chest started getting warm when he thought about how lucky he could call himself to own someone as special as Jimin.

"But what's wrong with Jimin?" He asked nervously because he still didn't get what Hoseok's issue was all about. He looked thoughtfully into Yoongi's face. "You said Jimin behaved strangely while being with Wonshik's Dioptas, right?"

Yoongi nodded and his patience was running out. What the hell was Hoseok trying to tell him? Why did he make such a big secret about it?

Hoseok took a deep breath and looked around to see if really nobody of the other guest were listening to their conversation. "Listen, your statement coincides with what I really want to tell you. It all makes sense now," he said, and his voice became even quieter.

"What makes sense?" Yoongi asked impatiently, and Hoseok hissed with a finger at his lips. "Be quiet. Or do you want everyone to know right away? If Hongbin knows what I'm telling you now, you might lose Jimin." Yoongi's face turned pale.

"Jimin is different from your father's Citrin, am I right? He listens better? You have to tell him things only once and he will follow your command?" Yoongi nods again and Hoseok sighed. "Have you tried teaching him how to speak? Is he able to say something?" Hoseok asked, and Yoongi shook his head.

"No, I've had a lot of work to do all week, and you said it will take a lot of patience and time to teach a Citrin. Hoseok, what is it you wanna tell me?", Yoongi repeated his question harshly, after another short glance over to the ballroom. 

Hoseok leaned forward to whisper to his ear: "Jimin, is a Dioptas.” 

tbc~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okaaay, I really don't know what to say here. I hope you liked it? :D If so I would be really happy if you could give this story kudos, or even a comment <3 
> 
> This part isn't as kinky as the first, but it will get smutty in the future again just be patient ;P~ There are also a lot of new characters in here. I thought about erasing Jonghyun (RIP angel) out of this story, but he didn't get a great part within Dioptas from the beginning, so I decided against it. The focus in this AU will mainly stay on BTS; MonstaX and Vixx with a few characters from other bands, that may or may not get as important as the main characters. But to tell this complex story I was in need of a whole bunch of characters... and well it got a bit out of hand. :D
> 
> I'm working on the German version for about two years now and I think its the best and most complicated story I have ever written. As its a work in progress, it may happen in the future, that I have to change little information within the story, when it comes to things like time references (because I'm still working at the timeline of this story). I'm sorry if that's confusing, I hope I don't have to change that much as the story goes on. :) 
> 
> Hopefully, you all don't have to wait for the next part as long as for this one~ see you all again in the next chapter <3<3<3


	3. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has their own crosses to bear. Everyone keeps a secret deep within. Some of them are bigger than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the third part of Dioptas. I want to thank all the readers for leaving kudos and commenting. I'll try to get better and better for you guys. Love U! <3

Yoongi took the tower between thumb and forefinger and pushed it to the position of Namjoon's horse, took it from the chessboard and left it next to the other figures he had already eliminated. Namjoon huffed and grabbed his own chin, trying hard to figure out which move would be the smartest after losing his pawn.

They often played chess against each other, mostly on rainy days like today. A meeting at the lake wasn't possible then because the way led right through the forest. Even if it stopped raining, the floor would be too soggy which, upon walking, would only ruin their shoes and clothes. Nobody would enjoy taking a walk under this circumstances.

Namjoon brought his queen into play, and a short while later Yoongi groaned in defeat, as the game was settled after just a few more moves. Namjoon had once again managed to checkmate him. It wasn't really a surprise though. Namjoon frequently won when they played chess since Yoongi was a lot better at poker. Namjoons face always betrayed him when he got a good hand, and Yoongi was able to read his friend's face like an open book. Therefore defeating Namjoon at poker wasn't really a challenge.

"What's wrong with you today? Three games in less than an hour? I think that's a new victory record!" Namjoon leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands behind his head. Yoongi shrugged. "I don't know, somehow I can't focus on the game today," he mumbled truthfully and put all the figures back to their correct positions before taking the board and carrying it over to the cupboard to put it down there.

The chessboard had been a gift from his mother and was decorating the room nicely. The board and the figures were completely made out of glass. One side of the figurines was translucent, while the other side was opaque, so it was easy to distinguish them.

He sat down at the table again as he listened to Namjoon recount another of his thousand anecdotes from the lecture hall. Yoongi didn't understand much of what Namjoon had learned in recent semesters, but the stories about his classmates and lecturers had always been very amusing.

"I think I've already told you about that jerk with the pink shirt?" Yoongi thought for a moment. "The guy with the painted eyebrows?" He asked uncertainly, and Namjoon nodded grimly crossing his arms over his chest. "He came to me all serious and said he wouldn't have thought of me being a fag and I should just stay away from him. And I just asked him, 'What the fuck is your problem, bro?'" 

"Why fag?", asked Yoongi a little perplex because the word just didn't fit his best friend at all. Obviously, Namjoon wasn't against homosexuals, otherwise, he wouldn't be as close to Yoongi, but he dreamed of getting married and starting a small family someday. 

"Oh, he probably heard about me having a hybrid. Actually, it's not a secret, a lot of people know about it. But apparently, Mr. spaghetti-eyebrow thought it was a female hybrid before." Namjoon explained and shrugged unconcernedly. Yoongi chuckled. "Many young men own male hybrids. There is nothing gay about it," said Yoongi and Namjoon nodded in agreement.

Male hybrids were bought a lot actually since they were a lot cheaper since they were bred more often than female hybrids. In addition, female hybrids could be fertilized by human semen, so it was necessary to use contraceptives while having sex. Giving birth to a child between human and hybrid were forbidden by law since the chance of genes showing mutations lay by 90%.

Even among breeders, it was common for newborns to be killed immediately after birth because of mutations if they weren't born dead anyway.  Mutations were also dangerous for the mother.  
In order to prevent her from dying at birth, they enacted a law that prohibited owners from creating offspring with female hybrids.  
In order to breed hybrids, a special permission from the government was needed, which was given out rarely - mostly to schools that trained young hybrids from birth on.  
It was possible to sterilize female hybrids, but it was also quite expensive. So most men just went with a male, androgynous hybrid instead of a female one. 

Namjoon had been with Jin for a couple of years, and back then there wasn't much variety on the market. Private individuals could purchase hybrids for a little over fifteen years now, and especially in the early days, only male animals had been available for sale.  
The female specimen that had been available at that time weren't affordable even to very wealthy citizens. However, this had improved especially in the last two years, as more female hybrids had been bred for sale during this time. 

An entirely new branch of industry developed in the last decade. Not only startups which started sprouting at every corner like mushrooms, but also long-established companies like the one Yoongi's family owned early arranged their products adapted to the boom, constantly bringing out new products for the hybrid market.

The company of his father and uncle now made the bulk of their revenue through the production of identification chips for hybrids. It was a statutory duty that both humans and 'human-like forms of life' had to identify themselves at any time.

All hybrids carried their identification documents within a microchip, pushed under the skin of their neck after they got bought. This chip contained not only information about the name of the owner and his address, but also which genes the hybrid possessed, which blood type he had and much more information. In addition, the chip was equipped with a small tracking transmitter. In the rare case that a hybrid was stolen or escaped, it could be conveniently searched, captured, and returned to the owner by the police.

This chips already existed before, but had been used for ordinary domestic cats and dogs at the time, but it was always left to the owner's decision if they wanted to equip their pet with a chip or not. As for hybrids owner's didn't have that freedom anymore because the law made it clear that every sold hybrid had to be registered like a human. 

A newly established law about three years ago had caused a flood of orders for their company. They had been producing all sorts of circuit boards and microchips for a long time, for example for credit cards, SIM cards or just chips for domestic pets. Yoongi had been instrumental in optimizing the production of individual machines in their manufacturing operations and was already firmly integrated into the family business. Yoongi also developed the prototype of the very first hybrid identification chip, in collaboration with his father's engineers, which had since been reworked several times.

Even as a teenager, he had helped out in the company during the holiday season, as he had always had an unusual interest in science and technology of all kinds. It had always been clear that Yoongi would work in this profession after finishing school. 

Of course, there were other companies that produced microchips for hybrids but the royal family relied on the chips of the Min family, as these were not to outrank the quality of their products. Word of this had spread quickly among the population, and since then MinsiM company has been one of the most respected and successful in the country.

"I don't have a clue what kind of problem he got with me. But suddenly he avoids me like a bat avoids the sunlight. I mean, what is he thinking? That I'd try to jump every one of my buddies in college now?" Yoongi had to laugh at the thought alone, but Namjoon's pinched facial expression made it even funnier.

They laughed together until Yoongi's laughter eventually died down. The whole week he had been thinking back to his conversation with the doctor. It had only been four days since the party but Hoseok's words just didn't want to leave his mind. The sentences: "If Hongbin knows what I'm telling you now, you might lose Jimin." as well as "Jimin, is a Dioptas.", kept flying through his head in an endless loop. Like a record player taking a leap, Hoseok's haunting voice repeated in his head, robbing him of sleep during the night.

In the beginning, he didn't pay much attention to the words. Jimin was a Dioptas? Well, that's nice. What else should he say? Yoongi and his father had really picked up a bargain then, right? That's what he thought about first, but the other statement caused him a constant stomachache.

Could he really lose Jimin again if Hongbin got to know that maybe he could talk? His father had signed the sales contract and paid the required sum, so Jimin was rightfully his, or was he not? The merchant had sold Jimin as a Citrin, but why? Didn't they recognize Jimin as a Dioptas? Yoongi didn't think so.

"Hey what's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost," said Namjoon, looking worried at his friend. Yoongi chewed on his bottom lip. Should he tell Namjoon about his conversation with Hoseok? The doctor had most likely a good reason to discuss the matter with him in private. On the other hand, Namjoon was his best friend and had a lot of knowledge about such things. After all, he dealt with a variety of laws every day.

Yoongi scratched his head a little nervously while figuring out how to ask the other without him going like a bull at a gate. "Tell me Joon, can a seller demand a return of his goods if he already received the money for it and after a contract has been made?"

Namjoon was surprised by the question but didn't comment on it for the time being. He thought about how to formulate his answer. "In this country, the one who paid the most for a product becomes the owner. This is normally the customer because companies usually produce a product as cheaply as possible in order to sell it profitably. The seller can only reclaim something if he has a valid reason for doing so, for example, if there is a defect in the product which requires it to be removed from the store retrospectively."

"You mean product recalls, am I right?" Yoongi asked and Namjoon looked at his friend for a moment before nodding. "Exactly. You also currently have this problem with the defect microchips? Wasn't there a production error in coating the circuit boards?" This time Yoongi nodded, and he twisted his mouth as he thought of the faulty boards. That was another problem that robbed him of his sleep at night but it didn't have the same priority for Yoongi as his problem with Hongbin and his father.

He wondered if he should ask Namjoon about this. What if he didn't like the answer? What if Namjoon confirmes what Hoseok warned him about? He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Assuming... ," he paused to exhale. "Mr. Lee would want Jimin back, would that work?"

Namjoon frowned, even more confused, and this time it took a little longer before he answered. "That would only be possible, if Mr. Lee had paid more money for Jimin, than your father, which I don't expect because otherwise, he would've made a loss, right? Besides, Jimin already diminished in value..." He cleared his throat and turned pink around the tip of his nose, which was a very rare sight for Namjoon. 

"I mean, you probably already used him for your own pleasure?" Now it was up to Yoongi to blush and he scratched his cheek embarrassingly as he confirmed Namjoon's question. "He will not be able to resell him at a high price, so I would just say he won't ask you to give him back. But why do you even want to know about all of this?" Yoongi tried to seem as uninvolved as possible. He shrugged. "Oh, I just wanted to know. It just crossed my mind..."

Jimin who had been lying in his basket the whole time stirred, his right ear slightly twitching in his sleep and he meowed softly. The attention of the two friends turned to the sleeping hybrid and Yoongi started smiling happily. 

It was scary how fast a hybrid could actually grow on you. On his first day, he had been highly reserved with Jimin and had seen him more as an object of personal pleasure, much like a living sex doll. Now he was a little ashamed of the things he had said and thought during the examination in Doctor Jung's office.

He owned Jimin for only two weeks by now, but could barely imagine a life without him anymore. Jimin's gentle nature was like heart-balm and Yoongi hadn't been this happy for a long time.

*+*

Hoseok was torn out of his sleep by an uncomfortably penetrating sound in the middle of the night: his emergency pager. He fumbled disoriented for the little device on his bedside table and turned it off. Then he grabbed his smartphone on said table and called work immediately, still half asleep.

"Dr. Jung, I'm relieved you're calling.", Yewon gasped a little out of breath. She was one of his medical assistants staying at the office for the night shift today.

Hoseok had made it a habit to call his assistant as soon as his pager went off. This helped to save a lot of time because he received first information concerning the emergency beforehand as he got dressed as quickly as possible. Besides, once his pager had had a false alarm and he had rushed to work, only to find out, that nobody needed his help.

"Good morning Yewon, what's the matter?" Hoseok asked as he swung his legs out of bed and slid his bare feet into his slippers.

"A completely distraught older gentleman has just brought a Felidae to the clinic. He was shot twice."

"Shot?" Hoseok gasped in horror and stopped dead in his tracks. Yewon made a noice in agreement before explaining, "The man is a hunter, Doctor Jung. He was hunting deer in the forest north of the city. The hybrid has run into his path, his real goal being probably a deer. Both bullets are still in the body of the animal, one in the right thigh, the second sideways in his hip. I have already given a sedative and stopped the bleeding as much as possible." Hoseok heard the little assistant rustling and clattering while speaking. "I'll give him a blood transfusion until you get here and prepare everything for surgery."

In the meantime, Hoseok had put on the first clothes that he found, ruffled his hair a few times in front of the bathroom mirror and made his way down the hall to slip into his shoes.

"What can you tell me about the hybrid? Who does he belong to? Which class? Give me all the info you have."

Hoseok himself was surprised at how quickly a human could lace his shoes when it mattered. He grabbed his keys and the wallet from the dresser, pulled on his raincoat, and rushed out of the door while Yewon spoke.

"It's a Dioptas according to the eye color, but he's pretty emaciated and scratched. He has countless bite marks on his body, but they are most likely not older than a few days. Maybe he doesn't belong to anyone if you ask me, it looks like he's been living alone in the forest for some time now. Maybe he fled from his school? He's got no ID chip or brand. I can't even say what genes were used on him. Based on the set of teeth it's definitely a cat, but I'm unfortunately stumped for an answer, as for a more accurate classification, Doctor Jung." Yewon sounded a little helpless and Hoseok snorted.

It was the first week in which the little medical assistant, who had started working for him only a few months ago, was scheduled for the night shift. They didn't have any animals to watch overnight at the moment, so there was little to do to kill the time. From time to time there was the case that the first heat of a hybrid occurred at night and the owners then came to the clinic, alarmed by the high fever. It was Hoseok's job to help these animals through the worst time and give advise to the owners to look for a suitable heat partner as soon as possible. An emergency requiring surgery was so infrequent that Hoseok himself had a hard time thinking about the last time he'd been rung out of bed therefor at night.

"Okay, I'm on my way. See ya!" He said before hanging up.

Hoseok swung onto his bike and immediately pedaled as if the hellhounds were after him. He raced to the west on the dark, rain-soaked floor, hoping he wouldn't be late for his patient. As he struggled, he searched his head for all the necessary measures of an operation for removing projectiles from the body of a living being.

-

About two hours later, the patient was no longer hovering between life and death. The operation had gone extremely well and Yewon had been a great help in removing the bullets.

Hoseok had finally sent the hunter home after he had asked for his phone number, so he could contact him if necessary. There was no point in keeping the man in the doctor's office overnight if the injured animal didn't belong to him. The hunter had been so afraid of being sued by a potentially very wealthy owner that he seemed more than relieved when Hoseok sent him home and told him he should not be worried, as he would take care of the matter from now on.

Now that Hoseok was sitting behind his desk again, rubbing his eyes tiredly, he snorted in frustration. He glanced sideways at the small window of video transmission, in the upper right corner of his computer screen, which belonged to recovery room number three. This room was rarely used and Yewon had given him a blank look when Hoseok had instructed her to prepare the already dusty room for the patient.

She had complied with his request and now about twenty minutes later, he thought of what he should tell her, now that she sat in front of him with an expectant look. "Listen to me Yewon, I know it has been a hard night for you and you certainly want nothing more than to go home and get a lot of sleep, but this matter is really important," he began in a serious voice. 

Yewon cocked her head keeping still but clearly waiting for an explanation. "I have locked the footage of recovery room three for the registration and redirected the transmission to my computer only. I can't tell you all the reasons, but since you've already seen our patient, I'd like to ask you to help me. I know it's asking a lot but could you just blindly trust me in this matter?" Hoseok wrung his hands a little. Yewon looked deep into his eyes and nodded finally.

"All right then. The official story that we'll tell the other assistants is this: The Hybrid in recovery room No.3 belongs to a member of the royal family and all investigations are under strictest secrecy - only you and I can enter the room, is that clear?" Yewon opened her mouth to say something but Hoseok raised his hand and gestured to her that he hasn't finished yet. "Again, it's really important that none of the others get to see this hybrid, Yewon! Please trust me, okay?"

The petite doctor's assistant swallowed nervously. "But why, doctor? I don't quite understand why such a secret has to be made out of this patient-"

"Look, we know absolutely nothing about this hybrid. Neither who he belongs to, nor 'if' he belongs to anyone. His genetic profile is not to be found in any of the databases. Every hybrid that is born must be registered there by law. Do you even know what that means?" Hoseok hissed and leaned over the table. Yewon nervously chewed on her lower lip.

"Yewon, this hybrid has probably lived on its own for years in the forest, without anyone reporting him gone missing. There are always cases of hybrids fleeing from their owners but after some time the search for them is stopped because it is assumed that hybrids are not capable of surviving without humans. They may have their animal instincts but they are not taught how to get food on their own at school, they don't know how to hunt and of course, it's not possible for a hybrid to just walk straight into a supermarket to get something there."

The more Hoseok talked to his doctor's assistant the more she seemed to dawn on what the doctor wanted. "You mean he may be an outcast?" She breathed a little anxiously and Hoseok nodded solemnly. "But Doctor, then we have to report him!", She said vigorously and Hoseok tussled his hair.

"No! I didn't save the life of this hybrid for him to get shot dead afterward, Yewon. Don't you get what's at stake here?" Hoseok got up from his seat, circled the table, and sat down in the chair next to Yewon. "I don't have any proof that he actually possesses the banned genes, but even if he had, I don't want to turn him over to the government. I myself had to be present at several of the executions and it still gives me nightmares. Do you know why?" Hoseok grabbed the girl's hand and squeezed it tightly. She shook her head uncertainly. "Because I think those hybrids all died in vain. I just don't want to believe that the genes of certain animals produce hybrids that show a higher potential for violence."

Hoseok paused and Yewon let out a shaky breath. "But that hybrid killed that little girl, he tore her into pieces, it was all over the news, haven't you seen it back then?" She asked a little shrilly, but could not tear herself away from the doctor's insistent gaze.

"I've followed the case in the news, but I think it was a terrible accident, a single case for which finally hundreds of innocent and harmless hybrids were euthanized or shot dead. Listen, I'm not going to pull you in this, I'm just asking you to keep quiet about this hybrid, okay? I want to prove that this Dioptas is completely harmless, even though it's probably an outcast!" Yewon seemed to think about his words for a moment, finally sighing heavily.

"I know you're a good person, doctor and I trust your judgment but what do you want to do with him if he really turns out to be harmless? He has lived in freedom for so long now that a life in captivity would be pure torture for him."

Hoseok twisted his mouth. Of course, he had thought about this question already but to his shame, he had no real answer to it yet. First, the hybrid getting healthy and gaining his trust was important.  He would worry about what happened to him afterward when the time came. He shrugged a little helplessly. "Who knows, maybe we'll find a way to release him back to freedom," he finally said uncertainly.

Yewon gaped at him. "But doctor, that will not work! Such an intelligent animal shouldn't be completely on its own without human control. If the government gets to know off this, we're in a lot of trouble! I don't want to go to priso-" 

"But it's okay for you to enslave or even kill a creature of nearly equal intelligence and wish for freedom, just so you don't have to go to jail?" Hoseok interrupted her angrily and Yewon looked at him with dilated eyes.

"As I said, I will not involve you in this, Yewon. Everything I ask of you is to keep silent about this matter. Hybrids of the Dioptas class are so much more than dumb animals with which one can do whatever he wants. I will do everything in my power to ensure the safety and freedom of this hybrid, even if it's the last thing I do!"

*+*

Minhyuk lifted the mug of hot tea to his lips and tried carefully to see if it was still too hot to drink. He was sitting at a small white lacquered table with elaborate delicate carvings to which he had two matching chairs. The upholstery of the seat was covered with black fabric of high-quality, which had an abundant pattern of silver-threaded embroidery.

Yixing had brought him the furniture as a gift from his country and he had assured him that only the best craftsmen had worked on it. Minhyuk would have to replace the black cloth as soon as Yixing had returned to his home in a few months. Because the fabric did not quite fit into his style of furnishing.

He liked furniture in white, that much was obvious to the few who ever saw his bedroom. He lived in the right wing of the royal palace, and most of the rooms were furnished like the rest of the huge estate but lavishly oppressive by the dark wood, the dark wallpaper and curtains. Since he almost never received any visitors here in his private quarters, he had arranged everything to his liking. And so his room was white, from the carpet over the furniture and curtains to the ceiling.

The numberless small lamps, which were strategically distributed in the room illuminated it in a pleasant light, glittered like rays of sunlight on a layer of snow. It was even more increased by the countless mirrors that could be found everywhere in the room. Some might say the young prince was vain but Minhyuk had only attached the mirrors to reflect the light with them. Although he had to admit that he liked to look in the mirror, especially when he rummaged through the sheets of his canopy bed with his wonderful hybrid.

The only dash of color in the room came from the many green plants. Otherwise, there was nothing that could distract the eye from the dazzling white. Wonshik had once, perhaps rightly, called his room: 'the Ice Palace'. Minhyuk understood that the room may be cold and uncomfortable for others, but it was his own kind of aesthetics. For Minhyuk, this room meant a sense of freedom, of emptiness.

Wonho sat at his feet on a comfortable cushion and had his head on Minhyuk's knee so that the prince could pet his head while enjoying his tea. Minhyuk blew on the hot liquid and was about to take a hesitant sip from his cup when there was a knock on the door.

He glanced over at the clock and frowned. It was a weekend and he was sitting here in his pajamas because he didn't have to be socially acceptable at this time. He couldn't think of anyone who needed his attention on a Sunday, especially not at eight o'clock in the morning. The servants knew his breakfast habit and how he didn't like being disturbed for at least an hour once his food had been brought to his room. So if someone knocked now, it had to be an audience.

Wonho had also lifted his head in irritation and fixed his eyes on the door. "Come in.", Minhyuk called a bit moody and his butler Eunwoo entered. As always, the young man looked fabulous. He had just started working for him, coming fresh from the academy and had passed his training there with perfect scores, which was why he had been proposed to the royal family. So far, Minhyuk hadn't found anything he could complain about the butler. He was always punctual, courteous and polite. He knew how to choose to express himself and he didn't lack the necessary empathy for his master. Sometimes it was almost scary how well he could gauge the condition he was in and what words to use to not step on Minhyuk's toes.

"Please forgive the disturbance, Prince Minhyuk. A certain Mr. Wang demands an urgent audience. I told him emphatically that you were unavailable at this time of the day, but he didn't yield." Eunwoo bowed deeply and Minhyuk sighed heavily. With a clink, he put the cup back on its saucer.

"Audience granted, this isn't the first time Jackson gets to see me dressed like this. Let him in." Minhyuk felt with his left hand for Wonho's head and the hybrid obediently put his head back on his master's knee. Eunwoo had hardly left the room as Jackson stormed into it. 

"We have a problem, Minhyuk!" He shouted in a rage and without a greeting at a volume that gave Minhyuk an instant headache. He raised his hand and told the other to silence while offering to sit down first. Jackson declined because, as ever so often, he preferred to stand in front of him and rock on the balls of his feet.

"What problem could be important enough that you couldn't have waited until tomorrow? Are troops of the enemy currently invading the city? Or how else are you going to explain to me your, as always, extremely rude behavior?"

Minhyuk's voice was icy and most of the people he dealt with on a daily basis would have buckled and crawled before him in the dust but Jackson had never been the most respectful towards him. Basically, Minhyuk as a prince, was, of course, standing above Jackson, but the man from Anihc had become part of the royal family by marrying one of Minhyuk's cousins and with that, he could correct him but nothing more. As often before, Jackson didn't respond when he was reprimanded and besides nobody could be angry at him for long anyway.

Jackson made an exaggerated curtsey, waving his hand and bowing, before he said, in a tone that dripped with sarcasm, "Pardon the early disturbance, MY noble Prince Miiiiinhyuk. I didn't mean to bother you, at such an early hour, with a thing that would certainly be unreasonably unimportant in your eyes, but damn shit we have a problem so can I please stop this prance and explain why I'm here?"

Minhyuk closed his eyes for a moment, annoyed, as he tried to calm himself down. He made a fleeting wave with his hand, which signaled the other to start. 

"Hyungwon is in heat. I have him in my car because all the Canidae in my club went completely crazy because of his pheromones. He bit his last customer because the heat hit him right as he was about to serve his client. Since Hyungwon is yours legally, I have to deduct the medical expenses from Hyungwon's salary. I hope everyone calmed down by the time I return to the club. The customer is already in the hospital, has a not so nice gash on his neck, honestly we can be glad that he's not dead." Jackson rowed frantically with his arms. 

"Dead, he would have cost less money." Minhyuk sighed, took his cup in his hand and finally started drinking. "Well, that's it I just wanted you to know, now where should I leave Hyungwon?" He asked hurriedly, while he kept taking a look at the clock behind him.

"What do you mean by leave Hyungwon?" Minhyuk asked, who had emptied his cup and reached for the teapot to calmly refill it. "Didn't you listen to me?" Jackson asked, perplexed and visibly annoyed that Minhyuk seemed to be totally relaxed. "He's in heat, he has to stay somewhere."

Minhyuk looked at him for a long time and simply smiled. "Yes, I understood that. But he can't stay here either. I won't let Hyungwon put his dirty little fingers on Wonho for longer than necessary. He takes care of my little darling when that terrible desire overcomes him. But this isn't mutual."

Jackson went still on that but looked at the other like a mirage. "But what have you done with Hyungwon when he was in heat before?" He asked cautiously, unsure if he really wanted to hear the answer. "He was in the dungeon accompanying the rats and screaming his head off. What did you think where he was? You can't leave him here, Wonho is always so terribly upset about this screaming. My little one has a very fine hearing."

Minhyuk looked lovingly at Wonho, took his face in both hands and bent down to give him a gentle kiss on the lips. "You can go.", Minhyuk said, without paying further attention to Jackson but he didn't let himself out this easily.

"I can't take him back, Minhyuk! I already said that because of his pheromones all my Canidae are going crazy!" Jackson explained with an angry face.

"And as I already said, it's a pity I can't take him back! I left him in your club so you could deal with him when Wonho doesn't need his services, so it's not 'my' problem Jackson, it's 'yours'." Minhyuk jerked up and poked painfully with his forefinger into Jackson's chest, whenever he accentuated a word.

"But as kind, as I am, I can offer you a solution, you should be grateful. How about you just find a heat partner for Hyungwon among your little whores, hmm? Since you already said that all of them reacted so intensely, that will hardly be a problem, right? Just tell Hyungwon, to cover the cost of the shortfall, he can work it off as soon as he gets back to normal. And now," He got his face very close to Jackson's and his eyes were narrowed to slits. "get out of my eyes. I would like to enjoy my tea on this wonderful Sunday morning!"

*+*

On a warm spring day, Hoseok was sitting behind his desk, signing a document he had just read when there was a knock on his door. "Come in," he replied as he folded the letter and put it in an envelope.

"Your patient is here already, Doctor.", Said Jisoo, one of his assistants, and Hoseok looked up with a smile. "That's fine, I just finished. This letter has to be sent today, please.", He said, waving the letter and Jisoo came to his table to receive it. "Do you need assistance with the examination?" She asked friendly but Hoseok, who glanced quickly at his monitor, shook his head. "No, that's not necessary."

He got up and circled the table, Jisoo had left his office in the meantime to sent in the next patient. As he had already seen on the computer, Leo stepped through the door.

The hybrid was dressed in a long coat, chic-looking suit pants, and glossy polished men's shoes. The entire wardrobe was in black as usual, because neither Wonshik nor Leo liked particularly bright colors. The former had to renounce as the director of a security company. He would not be taken seriously if he had a very colorful appearance while meeting customers. Leo was one of the few hybrids who didn't find it uncomfortable to wear clothes. Since Wonshik took him out on almost every occasion - even business dinners - the Dioptas was used to clothes by now.

Hoseok was taken aback when Leo quietly closed the door behind him. "Good morning, doctor," The panther said and bowed his head in greeting. "Morning Leo, are you alone?" Hoseok asked approaching Leo. "Master Wonshik had some important matter to do in the city on behalf of the court. So he's excusing himself," Leo explained in his feathery voice and Hoseok nodded. "Oh, I see, that's not an issue. After all, you are only here for your annual check-up. So Wonshik doesn't necessarily have to be here, it's just so unusual to see one of you two alone." 

Leo nodded and there was a brief moment of silence in which they both just looked at each other. Hoseok briefly considered whether he had ever met one of them alone. Sometimes it was like the two were glued together by the hip.

Anyway, their relationship was pretty unique, because Wonshik didn't treat Leo like a hybrid but like a human being. He was the only one of his customers to call his hybrid by his real name when the two were alone. He called the hybrid Leo when other people were present and only then Leo behaved like a hybrid: submissive to his Master. However, as soon as the two were alone, or thought that no one saw and heard them, Leo spoke freely and without inhibition. In addition, in this moments Wonshik called him Taekwoon.

Hoseok only knew about that because of a house visit last summer, where Wonshik's butler Jongin let him in and said, "I wish you a good evening, Sir. Master Wonshik and Master Taekwoon, are already awaiting you in the garden, Doctor." Hoseok had read the name Taekwoon before because it was written in Leo's medical file, but he had asked himself the way from the entrance to the garden, who could be 'Master Taekwoon' since he knew no one from the nobility with said name. Hoseok's surprise had been so great when he only found Wonshik and Leo in the garden.

The hybrid had its own rose garden, which he devotedly cared for when Wonshik was working and on the day of his home visit, Leo had slipped with his pruner and cut himself. So it wasn't just that Wonshik treated Leo like a human being, he also demanded of the staff to pay the necessary respect to the hybrid.

Hoseok shook his head to remember where he was and that he could not stand here forever and ponder. He clapped his hands. "All right, then take off your clothes here, you can put your things over this chair and then come to the table, please." He didn't wait for an answer from Leo but turned on his heel to head for the closets behind the table.

He provided everything for the examination while Leo undressed. Without shoes and clothes, the panther's walk was much quieter and smoother, so Hoseok got a little startled when Leo suddenly stood behind him. "Sit down," he said as he pulled the last things out of the drawers. Leo climbed onto the table and Hoseok saw him shivering for a moment because of the cold metal.

-

The examination went smoothly and without Hoseok noticing something unusual. One of Taekwoon's nipples was quite red and Hoseok had seen on his anus that the two of them had had a lot of fun last night, but he had not commented on it.

Hoseok labeled the tubes with the blood and urine sample and called over a pager to Jisoo to bring the samples into the cooling while Leo dressed again. "Ah, I forgot something," Hoseok said and Leo paused while dressing. "Just keep dressing," he explained, reaching for a thermometer. "I still have to measure your temperature," he said and he didn't know why but it seemed to him that the hybrid in front of him froze into a salt pillar as he put the device briefly in his ear. Hoseok looked at the result and frowned. While Leo was getting ready to move and sit on a chair, Hoseok glanced at Leo's medical record and put the new measurement on a chart.

"Your temperature is unusually high... ," he murmured, more to himself than really turned to the hybrid and clicked with his mouse through the file until he reached the heat schedule. He studied the chart and he furrowed his brows. "When did you two last use Dionysos?" Hoseok asked the hybrid, who now sat in front of him with his hands in his lap. Leo glanced at the ceiling as he considered. 

"I think it's been three weeks or so since then... ," he finally said uncertainly and Hoseok grabbed his chin. "Have you had an elevated temperature for some time?" He asked, watching the other's gestures carefully. Leo looked down at his hands and finally shrugged.

"Leo, you have to keep a wary eye on things like that. Elevated temperature or fever over long periods of time aren't good for your body. Actually, the temperature can't be linked to your heat, according to the chart it's over a month until it will start again. I'll prescribe you an antipyretic remedy just in case you caught something out there because of the bad weather. Half a pill in the morning and in the evening is enough for the start but if it doesn't go away-"

Hoseok had clicked on his screen while he was speaking to print the recipe but now that he was looking back to the panther, he noticed that he was unusually quiet, had clenched his hands and was trembling all over. He couldn't see his face because he was looking down at his hands but Hoseok felt he was about to burst into tears if he wasn't already crying silently.

He got up, circled his desk and squatted in front of Leo. Carefully, he reached for a hand of the hybrid. "Hey, hey, what's going on?" Leo carefully raised his head and Hoseok gently stroked a tear from his face. "You- You've said back then that you're not sure how it affects the body when a hybrid deliberately decides against a heat partner." Leo started in a brittle voice and Hoseok nodded.

They had talked about this topic not only once during past examinations. Almost five years ago, when Wonshik first came to see him with Leo, the young noble had asked him out about what would happen after Leo's first heat was over. He wanted to know what he had to consider and what exactly a heat partner was, as he had only heard of this term a few times.

Hoseok had willingly told him that the right smell of a hybrid couldn't be defined until adulthood, and therefore it was not until after the first heat that a partner could be sought who sexually cared for the hybrid during following heats. 

Hybrids which had still to experience their first heat smelled completely different, so it made no sense to look for a partner beforehand. The smell of the animal changed so much during the first heat that the previously chosen partner wouldn't fit afterward.

After Leo had his first heat and Hoseok had taken care of him - that was about four months after said conversation - Leo had stated for himself that he doesn't want to have a heat partner. As Wonshik asked him why not, Leo had only looked at him for a long time and replied, "Because I don't want you to have to share me with someone."

Hoseok had been skeptical at that time if this would work out well. During heat, the animal side of the hybrid took complete control, so Hoseok had advised Wonshik to lock Leo away during that time and wait for the heat to subside. He had explained to him that Leo had no power over his body during his heat and that he might even attack Wonshik without being able to remember.

The second and third heat came and went without any visible problems. Leo was just scratched and bruised after the days, presumably because he wanted to distract himself with the pain of the searing lust and so the years passed.

Only a few cycles later, the first problems began. Hoseok who had a chart on each of his patients heats noticed that Leo's cycle was slowly but surely shifting. At first, it was only a few days. Then a whole week. The intervals between the individual cycles in Felidae were usually five months with Canidae six months. But with Leo, the gap between cycles became shorter and shorter. Also, Leo told Hoseok that his heat was no longer just two to three days - as was the norm - but was lasting almost five days now.

Although Hoseok spoke to him again and again, Leo always assured his master that everything was fine, but that this wasn't the case any more was more than clear now as Hoseok saw the hybrid crying in front of him.

"Wonho told me at the party last week that my pheromones are already quite strong. And for a few days now I have had strange changes in emotions and temperature. I'm hot or cold from one moment to the next for no apparent reason." He rubbed his face and took a deep breath to calm himself. Apparently, he didn't want Wonshik to see he had cried. He fanned himself with his hand.

"Taekwoon." Hoseok deliberately chose the real name of the hybrid, and he jerked briefly and looked at him with big eyes. "Since Wonshik is not here and we can talk freely, I want to be honest with you. I don't think you can sustain this farce much longer. Your body sends out sufficient warning signals. Your cycle will shorten itself more and more and the heat will take much longer to fade away than usual. Please think about it again. Take care of this problem!" Leo turned his head away and Hoseok saw his jaw clench tightly.

"How long did your last heat last?" The doctor asked worriedly and he saw Leo swallow. Apparently, he didn't want to answer at first, but he knew that he couldn't escape the question. Unlike a human, a hybrid could not choose to keep an answer to itself if it was explicitly requested by a human being to disclose information. "Seven days ..." Leo whispered barely audible and Hoseok jumped up in horror. "Seven?!" He touched his forehead as if he had a sudden pang of a headache. He grabbed the hair right over his temple.

"Taekwoon, that's too much. Listen to me, would you? That is not good at all! Five days are already bad, but whole seven days with a high fever? Do you even know how much damage your body gets from this?" Hoseok paced in front of Leo's chair.

Leo didn't answer. He looked at the doctor desperately. "Isn't there a medicine that can suppress it? If you can create an artificial heat with Dionysos, then there must be something that suppresses the heat, or not?" Hoseok looked deep into Leo's eyes. It almost broke his heart when he saw how much fear and pain was reflected in it. "I read that the newest breeds, the male ... Euklas, they won't have a heat cycle anymore, right?"

Hoseok sighed heavily. "Yes, I've read a report about it, too. Maybe in five years, we know if the scientist were successful. Because the latest generation of hybrids had to reach adulthood first. The researchers say they have removed the gene sequence that causes male hybrids to have a heat cycle that only females need to breed, but unfortunately, no one can tell if it worked at this moment. They don't even know yet if the Euklas may develop a disturbed sexual behavior because of the missing sequence."

He put his hands on his hips. "Taekwoon you have to accept the current state of science. Unfortunately, there is no other solution than a heat partner for you. Wonshik will be against a castration, that's for sure, especially because the character always changes after this intervention. For particularly dominant hybrids which can't be tamed due to an excess of testosterone, or for those who don't miss any opportunity to interact with female hybrids without their master's permission, such an intervention is contemplated. But without the explicit wish of your owner, my hands are bound."

Relieved, Hoseok could already see on the face of the hybrid that Leo didn't want to think about the option of castration. Although Hoseok offered each new customer this intervention, in truth, he was reluctant to carry out this operation.

"If I were in your place, I would just tell Wonshik. He will understand because he only wants the best for you. I don't think it's fair that he doesn't get to know how much you actually suffer." Hoseok gently put his hand on Leo's shoulder, but the hybrid just gently shook his head.

"All right, you don't leave me another choice. If you don't tell him, then I'll have to do," Hoseok said forcefully, and Leo looked at him horrified. He shook his head in panic. "No, no, please, Doctor, please don't," he stammered and fell to his knees on the floor. He crouched down in front of Hoseok and begged the doctor, his fingertips only inches away from Hoseok's shoe tips.

"Will you promise me to tell him? At least, after your next heat?" Hoseok asked relentlessly as he watched with concern for the panther crouching down in front of him. Leo's shoulders were shaking. Presumably, the hybrid had begun to cry again in despair. Hoseok hated himself for putting the gun on the other man's chest but he only did it because it was for the best.

"I promise it."

Leo's voice broke as he spoke and Hoseok closed his eyes in relief. The hybrid then cried for about ten more minutes and Hoseok was glad that Wonshik took his time with his affairs. So Leo had the opportunity to calm down and come to terms with his fate.

Tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for this chapter. I hope u liked it :3 
> 
> If you have questions, just ask me in the comments, I'll try to answer them if they aren't spoilery~ 
> 
> See you all again next chapter~ <3<3<3


	4. Outcast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Outcast awakens and Hoseok is having a hard time getting his trust 
> 
> Also: Hyungwon awakes from his heat and finds himself promptly in a spiral of hatred for Minhyuk. While Wontaek are having a little fun on the sofa.

The first thing he noticed after he woke up was a relentless pain in his leg and hip. The second, that he couldn't move his arms properly for some reason. And last but not least, an unpleasant, pungent smell of detergent in the air, which was hard to ignore with his sensitive sense of smell.

As a precaution, he didn't immediately open his eyes to look around. First, he tried to find out where he was and how he happened to end up at this place.

He remembered that he was nearly dying from hunger like it was often the case and then, like a sign from some kind of deity this very tasty deer had appeared in the clearing of the valley. He also remembered quietly stalking behind the bushes and trees to wait for the right moment. Then he had started running towards his prey but while doing so, there had been two loud noises. He had been hit painfully by something and thudded hard to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he had seen the deer fleeing before he blacked out.

Carefully, he opened his eyes. His heart throbbed uncomfortably in his chest. He was alone in a small dazzling white room. However, it was not a cell as he had feared at first because the window had no grate or at least there were no bars visible on his bedspread as the bright light of the moon fell into the room behind him.

He lay on his left side in a comfortable bed with white sheets and beside him stood a glass of water on a low cabinet.

He tried to get himself up on his elbows which turned out not to be such a good idea. The movement triggered a stabbing pain shooting down his leg coming from his hip. So he resigned from trying to sit up and tried to calm his racing heart instead. Which was not easy when he looked down at his hands.

He had not been able to move them properly because his hands were tied to the frame of the bed with a chain. The chain was long enough for him to sleep in a comfortable position without being too restricted but handcuffed like this he wouldn't be able to reach the door or the window.

His throat burned but he wasn't sure if he should give in to the temptation of grabbing the glass of water. Maybe this was a trap? Maybe there would be drugs mixed into the water to make him docile?

Who had brought him here? Where exactly was he? And why did his entire right half of this body feel like it had been hit by a truck?

He didn't have the time to think about these and many more questions because the door opened and someone entered. It was a young man in a doctor's coat. So he was right, he was actually in a hospital or a similar institution. Excellent. So he was as good as dead.

The man carried a tray in his hand, a really delicious fragrance emanating from it.

/The last meal./, he thought. Like before with the water, he swore to himself he wouldn't give in to the temptation, even if his traitorous stomach answered promptly to the fragrance by growling loudly.

He was used to starving for very long periods of time. If you lived in the wilderness of the woods, there was usually no other choice. 

The young doctor smiled gently but he wouldn't fall for that either. As he took the few steps toward him with the tray in hand, he let out a deep rumble. The man paused in alarm and approached more cautiously while keeping an eye on him. He placed the tray carefully on the cabinet next to the glass of water and then walked back a few steps as if to maintain a safe distance.

"My name is Hoseok. I am Dr. Jung Hoseok a doctor for hybrid medicine," he introduced himself quietly and tilted his head worriedly as no reaction ensued. "Do you understand me?" The doctor asked him but he answered only with a hum.

He wouldn't give the doctor more information than necessary. Maybe, there was the tiny possibility that this doctor hadn't figured out that he should have been dead for a good five years by now.

"You're in pain, am I right? The medicine we administered after the operation should slowly subside." The doctor reached into a pocket of his coat and pulled out a box of pills. He opened it and pushed a seemingly harmless little white pill into his palm. Then he approached again, placing the pill carefully beside the glass of water.

Surgery? Had he been operated on? Why?

He was in fear of getting a heart attack because his heart was beating so fast. Apparently, the doctor could read the many questions in his face because he continued to speak unasked: "You were seriously injured. A hunter had shot you twice. He actually wanted to hunt a deer." Ah, so the two loud noises he could remember had been the sound of gunfire.

Another hum escaped his throat. So slowly everything came together but his chances of leaving this room alive thus dropped to zero now. If he was so badly injured that he wouldn't be able to run away, he could, as the saying goes 'write his last will'.

Hoseok seemed to feel his inner struggle as he studied him intently. "It's best to eat something first and then take your medicine. You sure want to regain strength quickly, right?" With these words, he pushed the tray a little closer to his bed but when he hissed menacingly, the doctor raised his hands in defense and once again brought distance between them.

"Listen, I really just want to help you.", The doctor began eyebrows raised in alarm. "I just want you to get well soon, so I can release you back to freedom."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at these words and click loudly with his tongue. Of course, this doctor just wanted to help. Of course, he would release him into freedom as soon as he was healthy again.

Did this man take him for an idiot?

The real intention of this guy was to gain his trust so that he would be all the more profound if he finally betrayed him and handed him over to the governments killing squad. As if this doctor would break the law for him. That was ridiculous!

"Spare me all that fuss," he spat angrily at him. "All humans are the same. It's all about enslaving us, and once we're making trouble, we're simply killed and replaced by a new, better-trained animal." He paused briefly, thinking the doctor would deny his words but he didn't say anything. "You don't have to fool me, I know what had happened to my kind."

Actually, he hadn't wanted to say that much his voice was unusually scratchy because he hadn't used it for a long time. The doctor sighed heavily and a sad smile appeared on his face.

"Due to the fact that I know that you're an outcast, I'm not going to hand you over to the government. They would kill you and I want to prevent that by all means. Nobody saw you except for my medical assistant Yewon, the hunter and me. The hunter is too afraid to be sued by a potentially very wealthy nobleman so I'm sure he will keep silent about this matter. Besides, I'm almost one hundred percent sure that he didn't know what kind of hybrid you are. Otherwise, he would have killed you probably getting some kind of reward from the government. Maybe a nice little hunting trophy. Instead of bringing you to my office clearly agitated. I'll make sure no one but me and Yewon will get to see you. "

"And why?" He asked suspiciously.

How high was the likelihood that he could've been brought to one of the few humans who really wanted his best? The chance was just too low. He had gone through hell in the last week, why should fate suddenly turn everything in his favor again?

"Because it wasn't in my power to save those condemned to death five years ago. I've been fighting for years now that hybrids, especially Citrin and Dioptas with proven human-like intelligence, should be given more rights." He could see the doctor clenching his fists as he spoke, becoming increasingly desperate by the minute. "These arranged executions were nothing but murder. Because I'm convinced that hybrids with the genes of lions, don't carry more potential for violence than other hybrids."

He looked surprised. He hadn't expected such an emotional outburst coming from the doctor. Apparently, the young man seemed to be talking about things that had been bothering him for a long time and to a certain degree, they were clearly frustrating him.

But he still couldn't and didn't want to give in to the doctor yet. What if this was a trap? Many humans were incredibly good actors. They could lie without getting red. What intentions did the doctor really have? Would he perhaps carry out tests and examinations of his body against his will?

He tried to move and howled loudly because his hip hurt again as if a knife had been stabbed into it.

"You really should take the pill before the pain becomes even more unbearable," Hoseok told him to take the small pill again, but he wouldn't dream of doing so.

"And what will you do to me when I'm well again? Tell me the truth!" He asked in a harsh voice.

Maybe he sounded a bit ungrateful because after all, this man had obviously saved his life. He wasn't sure at what price and if he was willing to pay it. With one exception so far, all the humans he had met had acted exclusively on their profit. None of them did anything completely without an ulterior motive.

"Like I said, I'll release you as soon as you're healthy again." The doctor repeated patiently but the hybrid only made an angry grimace.

"That's against the law! Don't think I'm stupid enough to believe you and don't lie to me!" His voice had become noticeably louder but the doctor remained calm.

"Sometimes you have to break the law to go the right way." Hoseok sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. He looked tired, clear dark circles under the eyes could be seen on the young man's face. Calmly he tried to persuade him again.

"Listen, I think you've been played badly by most humans you've met in your life. I can perfectly understand your distrust. And I can’t force you to believe me." Hoseok pointed to the tray. "But please eat something and take your medicine. You are my patient at the moment and I don't want you to be in more pain than necessary." He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small bunch of keys.

"In order to show you that I'm on your side, I will free you from your handcuffs. That is if you'll let me? The door to this room, however, remains locked for your own protection. Nobody is allowed to see you that would only lead to unnecessary discussions and I would like to avoid them as much as possible. "

He couldn't help but frown at the words and acts of the doctor. "Why did you tie me up in the first place when you're setting me free now?" Hoseok rubbed his eyes wearily.

"Yewon was scared of you and pushed me to use the handcuffs. She will not betray you because she trusts my judgment. It was a pure precaution. It could have been, after all, that you are violent because you're in pain. Also, you may be a Dioptas, but it could have been that you have forgotten the human language after living in the forest on your own for so long. Then it would have been much harder to convince you that you aren't in immediate danger."

That made all sense, indeed. He lifted his wrists a little and watched in silence as the doctor came closer with the keys and released him from the handcuffs.

He wanted to get up, as soon as his hands were free but his body refused to serve him. He felt strangely weak. Probably a side-effect of the anesthesia. The entire right side of his body hurt so badly that he gave up and let himself flop on his pillow again. He sighed obediently and reached for the glass.

"You should eat something first then, the medication will work better," the doctor explained again.

"And what if the food is poisoned? A drug that makes me amenable so you can do tests with me more easily?"

The doctor raised an eyebrow in astonishment but didn't say anything. He leaned forward to grab a small piece of meat with his thumb and forefinger and put it straight into his mouth. He chewed a few times and finally swallowed the bite.

"Mmm. Tastes really good, I wouldn't let it go to waste if I were you." Hoseok shrugged with a friendly smile on his face. "I'm not the greatest cook but I've done my best and so far none of my other patients have complained about the meals I had served them," he explained while licking his fingers.

He couldn't stop himself from being surprised by the doctor's behavior once again. Without a word, he carefully reached for the tray and pulled it closer to his bed. Angry, he stared at the delicious-smelling meat as if it had bitten him. Keeping his eyes fixed on the doctor, he took the first piece off of the plate and put it in his mouth. He wanted to moan happily. He hadn't eaten such delicious fried meat for ages. It was so tender that it came undone on his tongue and he had to suppress the urge to swallow everything greedily. He had his pride after all!

A relieved and contented expression spread across the doctor's face. "I'll let you have lunch then." The doctor looked down at his watch and rubbed his eyes again. He yawned behind his hand.

"I'll go to sleep for a few hours now. I take on the night shift as long as you are here but of course, I have to be well rested for my patients during the day. So in case, you need my help..." He reached into his coat pocket one last time and got out a small device. "Press this button. Then I'll come." The doctor placed the device next to the glass so that he would be able to reach it in case of emergency.

"The pill works after about twenty minutes. If you're still in pain after that time please call me and we'll increase the dosage." He turned to leave.

"Oh, and don't be surprised you'll get tired from that pill. As they say, sleep is the best medicine." Smiling, he glanced over his shoulder one last time and reached for the doorknob.

"Sleep well," he said. Then the doctor was gone.

*+*

Hyungwon awoke and he felt unusually good. His body was incredibly relaxed and an inner bliss flowed through him, from the tips of his ears to his toes. /I haven't slept that well for a long time,/ he thought as he opened his eyes.

He sniffed. There was a fabulous smell in the air. He couldn't quite place it, but whatever it was, it smelled damn good. He moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue and frowned. He tasted the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

His eyes cleared slightly and he turned his head to the left. Instead of the customer of last night, Ilhoon laid next to him. He was a Canidae with the genes of a husky and if one could say so, his best and only friend, in this hell of a brothel.

Ilhoon's eyes were closed. He was sleeping peacefully. Hyungwon's frown deepened. He turned his head to the other side and noticed that he wasn't in his but in Ilhoon's room. However, he couldn't remember entering the room last night. Of course, he had been in here several times before, the last time about a month ago, when a group of four men had booked Ilhoon and him for a night.

He scrambled to his elbows. It was dawning outside the window. The sun would probably go down soon. Hyungwon swallowed nervously. The taste of blood was heavy on his tongue. For how long had he been sleeping? Why had nobody woken him up? What was going on here?

"You're awake?" Ilhoon asked drowsily and Hyungwon turned his head in the direction of the other hybrid.

Although Ilhoon was a Citrin, he had learned to speak the human language very well over the years and his clients appreciated that. His sentences were often simple and sometimes not quite grammatically right, but usually, anyone could understand what he wanted to tell and that was all that mattered.

He was very popular. Not only among the customers but also the colleagues. As a mouthpiece for the remaining Canidae hybrids, he addressed issues with customers to their boss Jackson. (For the Felidae, this task was done by Jinwoo, a Citrin with the genes of an 'American wirehair' and a great talent for the human language. Hyungwon had only seen him once, since the Felidae were housed in another part of the building.)

The fur on lhoon's ears and tail varied from bright white to almost black, as did his hair. While the top coat was very light, the lower layers of his hair became darker, which caused an interesting color gradient. He also had, like often seen with Huskies, two different eye colors. The right one was golden brownish, shining like amber in the soft light of the setting sun. The left was so light blue that it looked almost white. His skin was not as white as his coat but not really tanned either. Arms and upper body were also well trained, if not overly muscular. All in all, he was a really attractive hybrid and Hyungwon enjoyed the nights they worked together a lot.

Most of the other hybrids at the Papillon for some reason didn't like Hyungwon. It's not like he had done anything wrong to them but they were mad and jealous because without lifting a finger, he'd become the club's No. 1, 'stealing' the title from Ilhoon. Ilhoon, however, was different, he had always been extremely nice to Hyungwon.

Hyungwon turned to his side and he grimaced in disgust. By the movement, a large amount of sperm seeped out of him gooey and slimy.

"What's going on here? I ... why am I here?" He sat up and groped the bedside table to get some tissues. "You hurt your customer.", Ilhoon answered and Hyungwon, who just started cleaning himself up between his legs with the tissues, froze. His head whirled around his mouth agape in shock. Before he could say anything, Ilhoon went on to explain. "Master Jackson told me to take care of your heat."

Heat. All it took was one word to get Hyungwons brain to run at full speed. Now everything made sense. The reason why he was lying in bed next to Ilhoon and not his client. The reason why he could taste blood in his mouth.

"What about him? Is he alright? I never wanted that to happen!", he ran a hand through his face and Ilhoon, who felt the panic that struck Hyungwon, sat up and hugged him reassuringly.

"The customer is fine. Master Jackson is not mad. You could not help it." Ilhoon licked his neck a few times. He gently nipped at the sensitive skin just above Hyungwon's pulse point and he immediately sensed the calming effect it had on him.

"What about Master Minhyuk? Oh god, I didn't realize I was that close to the heat." He bit his lower lip desperately.

"I do not know what the prince said to Master Jackson. When the injured customer was brought to the hospital. Master Jackson took you and drove to the castle with you. As always when Master Jackson is not there, we were all in our room. I made myself pretty for my client that evening. One hour later Master Jackson came in with you and said he quit appointment with client and I should take care of you."

Hyungwon's heart throbbed painfully in his chest. "W-when was that?" He asked in a brittle voice and Ilhoon loosened the hug so he could look at him. He rocked his head back and forth. Then he glanced at a calendar hanging on the wall.

"That was Sunday. Today is Wednesday.", He said simply and Hyungwon's heart slipped right into his pants. That meant he not only hurt a customer on Sunday, Master Jackson had had to cancel all the appointments for him and Ilhoon until today, even though they were the most desired hybrids of the club.

"Did he say why Master Minhyuk didn't take me back?" Hyungwon asked in a voice that could barely hide the hatred for his master. Ilhoon shook his head regretfully and Hyungwon felt the pity coming from his friend with his whole body. It was quiet for a long moment. Ilhoon watched every movement in his face and Hyungwon had to suppress the urge to turn his head away. He had the feeling that the odd pair of eyes would be able to look down the abyss of his soul as if it was an open book to him.

"Why don't you make him your mate?" Ilhoon asked suddenly and completely taken out of context and Hyungwon raised his eyebrows at the question. "You his heat partner, right? From the hybrid of the prince."

Hyungwon swallowed and twisted his mouth in anguish as he remembered that Wonho possessed everything Hyungwon always wanted. He not only received the undivided attention and love of prince Minhyuk who read every wish from his eyes. He also got to eat the tastiest dishes from the kitchen of the court and was near the prince all the time. The clothes he wore were always of the most expensive fabrics especially made for him because the prince didn't want his hybrid to walk around in anything ordinary.

The life of Hyungwon had always been pure hell, unlike Wonho's. Hyungwon had been trained to perfection, had passed all requirements with top marks and shortly before he was approved for sale, he had also experienced his first heat. He thought his life would finally start now! He thought a buyer would come for him soon! But it took longer than expected.

It wasn't the case that there was too little interest in Hyungwon, no it was quite the contrary, he could hardly save himself from potential buyers. However, whenever the prospective customers heard his price, they waved off and instead bought one of the much cheaper Citrin hybrids. It had been frustrating but he had firmly believed that one day the right buyer would walk through the halls for him.

Eventually, his coach came to tell him that he had been sold to a prince and Hyungwon was delighted and could hardly believe his luck. Which hybrid didn't wish to become the servant of a prince?

Of course, he was nervous if he could meet the requirements of a prince but even on the day he was picked up he didn't get to see his new master. Hyungwon had wondered at first but tried to explain to himself, that the prince sure was too busy to pick him up personally.

However, when he got to the palace he was examined by a doctor of the court who burst his dreams like a bubble when he said to him: "All right, you're in good health. We'll take you to Wonho right away, so you can take care of his heat." Hyungwon had spoken without permission and asked who this Wonho was and the doctor had told him that he had just been bought to be the heat partner for the actual hybrid of the prince.

The days he cared for Wonho had, without doubt, been the best in his life. He was absolutely adorable, he looked good and smelled fantastic. During the cool-down phases, Hyungwon talked to him about prince Minhyuk and couldn't wait to meet him as soon as Wonho's heat was over. But again, his dream didn't come true.

At the end of Wonho's heat, servants came in, who dressed Wonho in a silk robe and cuddly slippers and told him to follow them as his bath was already set. Hyungwon, however, was only leashed and brought down to the part of the building where the servants of the court had their accommodation. He was shown his future room, a room of six square meters, with a simple bed and a small chest with drawers full of working clothes made out of coarse cotton.

A man who introduced himself as Junmyeon told him that while he was not caring for the hybrid of prince Minhyuk, he had to work hard with the other servants if he wanted to have something to eat at the end of the day. And so he had fallen, from a luxury hybrid down to a simple servant.

He soon became the general drudge and within a short time, he knew all the chores that had to be done at the court by the servants. However, he always worked in secret. He helped in the kitchen, mucked the horse stables in the evenings, helped to weed the garden and so on. He never saw a member of the royal family during the entire time.

Two months passed in the castle and slowly Hyungwon accepted his fate. He didn't have much time to ponder about it anyway, because his day was so busy with work that every night he fell into his, not very comfortable, bed with from exhaustion aching limbs.

One night, he awoke with a fever and one of the other servants who had her chamber opposite of him sent one of the butlers to report to prince Minhyuk that his hybrid was feeling ill. The doctor came to him, examined him and found that his heat would probably break out shortly.

Hyungwon waited in his room for the servants to arrive and he was looking forward to being taken back to the room where he had been with Wonho the last time he saw him. But again his hopes were deceived. They didn't bring him into the comfortable room with the large bed, which he still remembered clearly.

Instead, they brought him down, into the deep vaults of the castle and left him in a cold, musty smelling dungeon. Before he knew what was happening to him, he was alone. No one heard his screams as the lust flooded him and so he screamed and cried until his body finally fainted. 

After the heat had subsided, he got a generous portion to eat and they helped him to wash and dress. On the same day, soon after that little bit of kindness, he got his first new work instructions from Junmyeon.

More months passed. One night he was rudely awakened by somebody shaking his shoulder almost painfully. "Get up! Prince Minhyuk is calling for you, Wonho is in heat. Go wash yourself up and prepare yourself to be presentable in half an hour!", he had been told and Hyungwon's heart had made an excited jump.

He would see Wonho again and this time maybe the Prince too? He walked through the great corridors of the palace and was always awestruck when standing in front of the beautiful portrait of his master. The night after he saw it for the first time, his hand had slipped into his pants and he had caressed himself thinking of what it would be like if Prince Minhyuk loved him as much as Wonho.

"Hyungwon?", Ilhoon's voice tore him out of his gloomy thoughts and Hyungwon jumped. He recalled Ilhoon's question and nodded. "Yes, yes... I'm his heat partner but... it's not mutual.", he whispered. Ilhoon tilted his head and frowned. "You take care of him but he does no care about you?", He asked, clearly confused if he had understood the statement correctly and Hyungwon nodded again.

"Who... then took care of you?" Ilhoon asked further but Hyungwon shook his head. "Nobody," he whispered even more softly and Ilhoon's mouth opened in horror as Hyungwon explained that Prince Minhyuk had only locked him up in the dungeon during his heat leaving him all by himself.

"Humans are so... cruel. I'm sorry," Ilhoon said dryly and again Hyungwon felt a wave of sympathy emanating from the other. "But I repeat, why do not you make him your mate? Then you could go away from here."

Hyungwon shook his head. "He always wears a collar made of metal during his heat, which is secured with a lock. Only the prince has a key and... and ..." He hesitated. "I couldn't do this to Wonho. After all, it's not his fault that I'm here. I would never make him my soulmate without his consent."

Hyungwon's heart hurt like somebody had stabbed it with a knife. On some nights, he had been thinking about marking Wonho as his mate against his will. But he couldn't do it, could he? The bonding process was like a marriage between hybrids. Both partners had to agree to make it work, otherwise, a lot could go awry. What if he seriously hurt Wonho? He had no grudge against him. The fox couldn't help Hyungwon misery, he didn't know what he had been through. No, Hyungwon didn't hate him. He envied him. That was a big difference and he wouldn't risk Wonho's life just to take revenge on the Prince.

"I understand." Ilhoon murmured sadly and silence settled over the room. Then Ilhoon raised a hand and placed it on Hyungwon's forehead. "Your fever is gone and you smell normal again. I better call Master Jackson.", he said. He was about to swing his legs out of the bed when Hyungwon held him back.

"Do you think... am I getting punished because I hurt the customer? Did something like that happen before?" Hyungwon asked anxiously and Ilhoon smiled at him. "You couldn't help it. I don't think Master Jackson will punish you. It's first time that customer has been injured since I'm here." Ilhoon explained and Hyungwon nodded, still worried.

Ilhoon went over to the intercom located next to the door and told the staff that Hyungwons heat was over. Then they waited together for Master Jackson.

*+*

 

Hoseok opened the door with a tray in one hand and the key in the other and entered recovery room number three. Outside, the sun was setting and he had just sent his last regular patient home. The nurse of the late shift was gone already and Yewon, who was doing the night shift again, had been so kind to prepare the dinner for the outcast today.

He closed the door with his foot and put on a friendly smile.

It was already the fourth evening on which he brought food to the still very suspicious hybrid. Even after such a short time, someone could already see that the rest and the regular meals were improving the health of the hybrid.

For example, he was now able to sit up on his own again. He sat leaning against his pillow on the bed and turned his head attentively in Hoseoks direction. 

"Good evening, how are you?", Hoseok asked as casually as possible and the hybrid twisted the corners of his mouth. "It hurts a lot today.", he admitted and Hoseok nodded. "I see. Then we will increase the dose for tonight a little bit so you can sleep painlessly. Why didn't you use the pager? As I told you before there is no reason for you to torture yourself."

Hoseok set the tray down on the little cabinet and the hybrid briefly cast a longing glance on it. "I have to look at your wounds today, too.", he said, circling the bed and the hybrid silently put the blanket out of the way for the doctor. He had to endure this procedure the last few nights as well so he knew what was coming. Hoseok carefully removed the patches and examined the two healing wounds. He nodded. "Looks good. If this continues, we can pull the strings in a few days.", he said happily smiling at the hybrid.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Hoseok called and Yewon entered. In her hands, she had disinfectants and fresh patches. She circled the bed at a safe distance and handed both to the doctor, her gaze steadily resting on the hybrid.

It was not the first time she had entered the room since the hybrid awoke from the narcosis but she refused to enter the room without the doctor and she was visibly tense. Hoseok dabbed the wounds carefully and the hybrid grimaced. He had already gotten used to the slight burn but it still wasn't pleasant. Hoseok carefully applied the fresh patches back onto the still very fresh wounds and then clapped into his hands.

"Et voila, with this we passed the unpleasant part of the evening and you can reward yourself with the delicious food." He circled the bed again and moved the tray closer to the hybrid.

"Yewon could you fetch a few more bottles of water for our guest to use this night and tomorrow, please?" Hoseok asked and the small medical assistant, seemingly glad to have a reason to leave the room, reached for the two empty bottles on the floor and scurried out of the room. Meanwhile, Hoseok prepared the pills for the hybrid which he was supposed to take after the meal.

They had barely spoken since the first night. No matter how nice and kind Hoseok has been to the other, he could barely elicit a word from him and that made him very sad. He had hoped the hybrid would open up a little bit, that he would start to trust him but instead, nothing happened. He still knew nothing about the other. Neither his name nor anything else. "That reminds me...", Hoseok slapped his forehead. The hybrid paused briefly during his meal and looked at the doctor in question.

"I brought you something, please wait a moment," he said, raising his forefinger before flitting out of the room. Of course, it was not as if the hybrid could go anywhere, not in his current state, he just looked a bit confused for a moment and then continued eating.

Hoseok walked quickly down the corridor and Yewon met him with two full glass bottles in her arms. She stopped and frowned. Hoseok went straight to his office and got a linen bag that he had left there this morning. He turned on his heels and went back to the recovery room.

Yewon was waiting in front of the door and Hoseok took the bottles she was carrying. "Thank you. You don't have to go back in if you don't want to." He said and the little woman smiled shyly and bowed gratefully before she returned back to the computer at the front desk.

When Hoseok entered the room again, the hybrid was in the process of putting a piece of meat into his mouth, his plate already half empty. Hoseok quietly closed the door behind him and headed for the bed.

The hybrid looked up and Hoseok hemmed and hawed a bit. "Well, I thought, uhm... I'm sure you already miss the nature and the smell in the practice with all the disinfectant is certainly not so pleasant, so..." He reached into the linen bag and revealed some fir branches and a few pinecones. "They smell very nice, a lot of my patients have told me that the examination room smelt like forest today." Hoseok laughed and scratched his head nervously when he noticed the gaze of the hybrid, which was fixed on the branches.

"Well, I was near the forest and thought that it maybe would be a nice gift for you. After all, you hopefully can go back to this smell very soon!", he said happily but the gaze of the hybrid darkened. "I... can't go back," he whispered barely audible, with a strangely hollow, almost hopeless voice. Hoseok's smile disappeared from his face as if someone had wiped it off. "But why?" He asked uncertainly.

He wasn't sure if the hybrid would finally open up and tell him something but if he did, Hoseok didn't want to pressure him, so he waited patiently for the other to begin.

"I lived in the woods with a small pack.", The hybrid began in a dull voice and pushed the tray with food away even if a little bit still remained on the plate. "But I was expelled. I can't go back there."

Hoseok frowned worriedly. "Al-all the scratches on your body, uhm... we already suspected that you must have been fighting something. So it was another hybrid?" He asked cautiously and his patient nodded mutely. Hoseok bit his lower lip. "You speak of a pack? Are they all hybrids who have fled from their owners? Are there any other outcasts like you?"

Hoseok had so many questions but he didn't want to flood the other.

The hybrid looked at him for a long time and finally, he sighed. "I think it doesn't hurt to give you some information about that," he mumbled more to himself than actually addressing Hoseok. "I was the leader of a pack, we were including myself, six hybrids. Two Felidae, four Canidae. I was the only Dioptas and the others thought I had the greatest potential to lead them."

He paused and reached for a pinecone to look at it. Hoseok watched the gesture with a smile on his face. "The others fled from their owners and disappeared until they stopped searching for them. Our cave is deep in the forest and it's surrounded by mountains on one side and a swamp on the other. The area is hard to reach for humans, that's why we were able to live there unconcerned for so long." He led the pinecone to his nose and sniffed it.

"It all changed two weeks ago. A trio of three Canidae came to our camp and they asked if they could join us." He grimaced in pain. "I didn't mind at first, even though I was worried about our food supplies. We mostly didn't have enough to eat for the six of us. After all, food does not grow on trees and the marshy landscape rarely has something edible to offer, especially during winter."

He laid the pinecone thoughtfully in the hollow of the blanket that had formed between his legs and it lazily wobbled down the blanket. "The leader of the trio, he's a Dioptas as well, stuffed himself with our food and had absolutely no respect for the rules of our pack. He even approached our only female member, which of course lead to problems with her mate."

He narrowed his eyes. "As a leader, I couldn't just watch, so I told them they had to leave our camp as soon as possible because they were nothing but causing trouble. And, well, what can I say, they didn't take it well." His hands clawed at his blanket and he began to tremble. Hoseok watched the other's face anxiously.

"He challenged me to fight until death with one of his lackeys, the winner should lead the pack and stay. I lost the fight and I only survived because my pack was protecting me when I lay on the ground which gave me a chance to escape. I ran for my life as fast as I could, stopping only when I came over the ridge and looked down into the valley from which I had fled five years earlier."

His voice broke and Hoseok put a hand on the hybrid's covered knee in a semblance of pity. "You don't have to keep talking, I think I figured out the rest. You came too close to the city and were eventually shot by the hunter as you were hunting for something to eat, am I right?" He asked softly and the hybrid nodded. His mouth was pressed into a narrow straight line.

"Thank you for telling me your story," Hoseok said sincerely but the hybrid just shook his head. "Of course you can just put me back in the forest but the chances of me being able to survive there, this close to the city and without my pack, are very bad."

"I don't think so! First of all, you need to get healthy again and in the meantime, I'll think about how we can sort out the problem with your future home. Just leave it to me!" While the eyes of the hybrid had become more and more desperate with every word Hoseok's fighting spirit had flared up. "I promised to help you and I will help you, no matter what!", He said energetically and jumped down from the bed.

He pointed to the plate on the tray. "Eat that up and take your medicine afterward. You have to regain strength quickly!" He said in a slightly commanding tone and the hybrid frowned. "I no longer have an appetite," he explained gruffly and Hoseok put his hands on his hips, like a mother encouraging her child to eat the unloved vegetables as well.

"Fine. Then I'll just leave it there until you're hungry again. But I insist that you'll take your pills before you go to sleep." The hybrid surrendered loudly to his fate and took the small white pills in one and the glass of water in the other hand slugging them down with several sips. "Satisfied, doctor?"

Hoseok grinned. "Very good, my little hybrid!"

"Hakyeon."

"Pardon?" Hoseok raised his eyebrows, perplexed.

"My name is Hakyeon. Please, never call me 'my little hybrid' again."

*+*

"Master Minhyuk, may I ask a question?" Wonho asked cautiously, as he laid in the warm arms of his master, holding his breath for a moment. Wonho knew that his master would be more receptive to have a conversation after a wonderful hour of making love, rumbling the sheets of the large king sized bed, than during his stressful everyday life. 

Minhyuk next to him, who had his eyes closed and face relaxed, smiled. "Well, now you've already asked a question but what do you want to know, sweetheart?" He said in a soft voice and Wonho instantly relaxed as well.

He briefly considered how it would be best to start the topic. "It's about your conversation with Master Jackson this morning. I-I wanted ... well, I mean, I always thought ... that Hyungwon has a heat partner, I mean, I assumed it automatically because I'm not the one helping him out. He never mentioned it while he cared for me during my heat. So ... is it true? What you've said this morning? Did you just lock him away when he..." He caught his breath as he thought of what his master had said this morning.

"So what? It didn't kill him, right?" Minhyuk asked with little interest and hugged Wonho tightly. "All that matters is that you don't lack anything. Why should I care about Hyungwon?" His voice was a bit icy and Wonho shivered internally."B-but, it wouldn't have bothered me to help him during his heat, if I'd known about it-" 

"That's out of question. As I mentioned this morning, it's hard enough for me to have to share you twice a year with him when you're in heat. And well, you don't have to worry about him. He certainly has a heat partner by now. Why is this even bothering you?" Minhyuk stroked Wonho's bare back up with his hand and weaved his fingers through the soft hair as he reached his head.

Wonho bit his lower lip. "I just imagined what it would be like to have no heat partner. That must be terrible," he said sadly.

"Yes, maybe you’re right. But it works. A hybrid can go without a heat partner. For example, did you know that Leo doesn't have one? And he is doing fine. Wonshik told me about it a year ago. I sometimes wish you were as strong as Leo so I wouldn't have to share you but apparently, not every hybrid has the strength to suppress its inner animal."

At these words, something painfully twisted in Wonho's stomach. Minhyuk knew about it? Well, then it seemed like he knew only one side of the coin, just like Wonshik. "I'm sorry," he mumbled softly, then, of course, he got the side blow. He wished he could tell his master about Leo's problem but he promised the other hybrid to keep it a secret.

"You don't have to apologize, silly. It's in your nature. When I bought you back then, I already knew that I would have to share you with another hybrid at some point." Minhyuk bent his head down and pressed a gentle kiss to Wonho's forehead.

"I have one more question, Sir.", Wonho mumbled hesitantly and Minhyuk sighed deeply. He didn't tell him to ask his question but didn't stop him either, so Wonho just asked. "Why did you send Hyungwon to the Papillon, Master Minhyuk?"

Hyungwon had been working in the brothel for half a year now but Wonho had only found out about it recently after Hyungwon had been brought to him during Wonho's heat. He had noticed that the hybrid smelled different than before and had asked him where he had been.

Wonho had known that Hyungwon had to work hard with the rest of the servants in the palace. But ever since he heard that his heat partner had to offer his body to strangers on a daily basis, he wondered why his master had given him away to such an awful place. Had Hyungwon done anything wrong while doing his job in the palace?

"The servants have been complaining about the screams whenever they locked him up in the dungeon. In addition, according to Junmyeon, the time that Hyungwon couldn’t attend his duties in the castle thanks to his heat, grew longer every time. I thought it was because he didn't have enough contact with other hybrids, that he may be missing out on something. At about the same time, Jackson complained about a financial shortage because the hybrids he had bought didn't appear to be so well accepted by his clients. Then I came up with the idea that I could lend him Hyungwon to lure more guests into the Papillon. Well, what can I say? Since then his brothel is fully booked for a long time ahead. I don't need the money but I earn a pretty penny with Hyungwon working there and that extra income benefits you."

"Me?" Wonho asked in confusion and Minhyuk chuckled. "Of course, what do you think my brother would tell me if I throw out all the taxpayer's money for expensive gifts for my little darling? Didn't you wonder why you got so many nice presents from me in the last six months? Money doesn't grow on trees, baby."

Wonho's heart got heavy. He had, of course, been pleased with the new nice clothes, the bejeweled jewelry and the many exciting travels with his master but now that he knew that Hyungwon had to spread his legs for strangers day after day, he got a queasy feeling thinking about it.

"Enough questions for today. For now, I don't want to hear the name Hyungwon from your pretty mouth anymore, do you understand?" Minhyuk's voice, gentle but determined, made it clear that this topic was now checked off for him. Wonho whispered softly, "I understand, Master Minhyuk." Then he raised his head to search for Minhyuk's mouth in the darkness, carefully placing a shy kiss on his lips. His master made a satisfied noise and lovingly caressed Wonho behind his right ear.

"It's getting late, we should go to sleep anyway. We'll have tea with Prince Yixing and Chen tomorrow morning."

*+*

"Phew, what a hard day." Wonshik sighed and stretched before dropping down onto the big, wide sofa next to Taekwoon, who was, as so often, engrossed in a book. He looked up from the book, closed it and set it down on the low glass table.

He scrambled to Wonshik and smiled happily as he kissed him gently. "How was your day?" Wonshik asked, as always when they had not spent the day together. 

Taekwoon was almost always allowed to accompany his master and partner. Wonshik took him on many occasions, even on business trips to other countries but today was one of the few meetings this month when he had to stay at home.

"I worked a bit in the garden and cleared all the roses of the weeds if the weather stays so mild, the flowering begins in a few weeks," Taekwoon told him with bright eyes and Wonshik smiled. He didn't know much about plants but Taekwoon had a great interest in the topic. The hybrid was especially happy when he could talk to Wonshik about his beloved roses. And everything that made Taekwoon happy made Wonshik happy as well, even though he didn't have a green, but rather a black thumb when it came to plants.

"I stung myself at the thorns a few times while cutting the roses." He confessed with pink cheeks and showed Wonshik his fingers which had a lot of small band-aids stuck to them and Wonshik laughed softly. "In all the years in which you've been taking care of the roses, you should have learned that you have to be careful with the thorns."

Taekwoon pouted because Wonshik laughed and couldn't stop for a long time because of the cute expression on Taekwoons face who pouted some more.

When Wonshik had calmed down, he leaned forward and poured some wine into a glass. He swiveled it thoughtfully a little in the soft light of the setting sun and sighed.

"It was good that I didn't take you along today. The old farts have been discussing banalities for ages. The bad order position, the disappearance of that money ... Everyone blamed someone else but nobody could give me a clear answer. I'll have to call father tomorrow and tell him about the latest incidents. If this goes on, the loss for the company is immeasurably, even though allegedly "specialists" take care of all financial matters."

Taekwoon frowned worriedly. Wonshik's father had always worked overseas for long periods of time and since Wonshik was old enough to manage part of the company he was responsible for the assignments here. Taekwoon had barely seen Wonshik's father.

He tried to be in the country at least for important holidays such as New Years or on birthdays such as his wife and Wonshik’s but often it didn't work. His father trusted Wonshik that the company was running smoothly during his absence and if that was not the case, it was up to Wonshik to put the company back on track.

"I've given the old fools an ultimatum. I'll tell you if I don't have any answers about this incident until next week, heads will roll. I already have some candidates who have been on my hit list for some time now. I'm still hoping the lost transporter will reappear by sheer magic not only because of the money,“ he grumbled, taking a sip of his wine.

Taekwoon looked at his lover attentively. He didn't like it when Wonshik was upset like this. "Have you any idea what might have happened?" He asked cautiously and Wonshik shrugged.

"I have a few ideas and already talked about my presumptions with a few people on the phone, who are more knowledgeable than me. But so far I have no valid evidence. I'm starting to think that maybe the mafia might be operating again. The king will absolutely not like it, it's been only three years since the incident. Well, it's not a good idea, to make too many assumptions about the current state of things. I'll probably have to wait until next week. But I'll tell father in advance that there's a great mudslinging coming."

He grabbed Taekwoon's hand and pulled softly. The hybrid climbed smoothly on his lap and they looked into each other's eyes for a long time without blinking. They often did that before sinking into a long, tender kiss, and most of the time Taekwoon won this small unspoken contest.

Taekwoon leaned forward and laid his lips gently and almost shyly on Wonshik's. He put the wineglass back on the table blindly and returned the kiss tenderly. They kissed slowly, carefully, there was no fight for dominance no urge to explore the other's mouth. Cautiously, Wonshik nipped at Taekwoon's tongue, nudging the sharp canines of the hybrid before retreating again, giving Taekwoon the chance to explore Wonshik's mouth. They had to stop from time to time to breathe. Every time Wonshik giggled happily like a newly enamored schoolgirl while placing gentle kisses on Taekwoon's nose.

Wonshik's gaze fell on Taekwoon's lap and he noticed with a sly grin the bulge in the wide, light pants of the hybrid. "Aww, is my baby needy? Or why did you get hard because of a simple kiss~" He teased and watched with satisfaction as the pink deepened in Taekwoon's cheeks.

Taekwoon's heart was pounding like mad. He knew the reason why his body was so sensitive but he still hadn't told Wonshik about his problem. He knew he was running out of time but he just couldn't bring himself to confess to Wonshik.

When they had sex for the last time at the beginning of the week, Taekwoon's orgasm had been intense like it had never been before, even though they hadn't done anything overly exciting. The sex was as always, good, sensitive and slow. They always took their time for a lot of tenderness and a long foreplay. Of course, they had a quickie sometimes but comparatively rare because they both enjoyed it significantly more if they had a lot of time for their lovemaking.

"You're so sensitive all week. I like it when your body reacts that much because of a simple kiss. If that would be always the case, we wouldn't have to use Dionysos at all." Wonshik smiled, placing a gentle hand on the arousal of his lover which was still covered by fabric. Taekwoon couldn't stop his hip from twitching at the touch. "It wasn't a simple kiss.", He defended the reaction of his body meekly and his feathery voice sounded a little breathless. His lips were red from the long kiss and glistened slightly.

Wonshik's second hand crept under the thin shirt and cautiously circled one nipple of the hybrid, which reacted to the soft touch immediately. Taekwoon let out a loud sigh and Wonshik chuckled.

He himself was far too exhausted for sex today but a hand job here and there could always be part of a cozy evening. He pulled on the loose waistband of Taekwoon's pants and released his lover’s hard dick. He carefully took it in his hand and rubbed his thumb over the spot just under the glans because he knew it would tickle especially cute sounds out of Taekwoon.

Over the years, he had come to know Taekwoon's body so well that he knew exactly how to touch him to make him feel good. "Kiss me," he breathed to Taekwoon, who immediately leaned in to comply with his lover's request. Taekwoon almost painfully clawed at Wonshik's shoulders with his fingernails and he moved his hips in time with Wonshik's hand, which produced just the right friction.

It took only a few minutes for Taekwoon to pull away from him and cum into Wonshik's hand with a loud moan.

"That was fast," Wonshik laughed. Fishing in his trouser pocket for his handkerchief to quickly clean his hand up. Taekwoon's cheeks burned with shame. "You've lasted longer in the past," Wonshik teased with a wry smile and Taekwoon bit his lower lip blushing deeply.

Wonshik found the sweet, pouting face of his lover so cute that he had to take it in his hands so he could press a soft kiss on his full lips. "You seem to be no longer used to being separated from me, are you? If you're so responsive to my touch after just one day..." He chuckled and Taekwoon pulled his head between his shoulders.

"Stop teasing me, please," he begged in a whispering voice and Wonshik ruffled his hair, tugging gently on the little ear that protruded from the curly mane of hair. "Alright, I'll stop teasing. But you have to admit that some stamina wouldn't harm you, right?" He winked.

Taekwoon hid his burning face at Wonshik's neck where he bit him roughly. "Ow! Ouch! Alright, I'll stop it." Wonshik swore to the hybrid, chuckling, and wriggling until Taekwoon finally let go of him.

"Well, now I have to wear a turtleneck sweater tomorrow for the meeting," Wonshik cried, fingering the spot on his neck Taekwoon had bitten.

"Serves you right!", Taekwoon exclaimed before he stuck out his tongue at Wonshik.

They laughed together and then looked each other in the eye for a long time again. This time, however, Taekwoon looked away and bit his lower lip. Wonshik didn't miss his lover's worried expression.

"What's wrong baby? I have the feeling you’re mulling over something for some weeks now,“ Wonshik said softly and Taekwoon's head whirled around and he looked at him with big eyes. "W-what, no it's nothing."

"Taekwoon." Wonshik's eyebrows tightened and he looked at the other seriously. "No really. It's all good. You know, I don't have secrets from you, Wonshik."

Taekwoon looked into Wonshik's eyes as if he would try to hypnotize him and this time Wonshik looked away, sighing. "All right. I trust you and hope that you will come and tell me when something bothers you. Will you promise me that, Taekwoon?"

Taekwoon swallowed hard and he blinked a few times quickly to fight off the oncoming tears. For a moment, the love for Wonshik threatened to overwhelm him. With what did he deserve this wonderful master and lover?

"I promise," he said sincerely, hoping that Wonshik didn't notice the trembling in his voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay ... okay. Actually, this last scene should only be half a page or something... this handjob was not planned: / it just happened somehow ... the main reason I wanted to write it was to tell you that Taekwoon still didn't told Wonshik about his little problem... *blink*
> 
> Furthermore, it was finally revealed who the Outcast is ~ Yeah! So all the boys from VIXX are now implemented in this story.
> 
> I'm very interested, which part of the story is most interesting for you? Are you all here because of BTS? VIXX? MonstaX? Please tell me. I mentioned it before but I will do so again. The main pairing in BTS will not be Yoonmin, even if it looks like it. Important characters like Jungkook and Taehyung just haven't been introduced yet and it will take some more chapters until they will appear. I hope some of you will like my story enough to read it nonetheless even if your favorite pairing may not appear.
> 
> What I wanted to mention as well is. I'm hardly getting any feedback on this story (not only on the English version but also on the German) but with this story, I need it more than anything else. I know many people are reading but nobody comments on it. I know this story with all the different characters may be confusing so if you have questions please ask me in the comments. 
> 
> Since I've been asked who is human and who is hybrid after the last chapter, I will post my answer here and add new characters to it. Maybe this will make things easier: 
> 
> Human --> hybrid
> 
> Yoongi (BTS) -- Jimin[Dioptas/Felidae] (BTS)  
> Namjoon (BTS) -- Jin[Citrin/Canidae] (BTS) heatpartner of Ken  
> Minhyuk (MonstaX) -- Wonho [Dioptas/Canidae] (and Hyungwon[Dioptas/Canidae]) (Hyungwon is Wonhos heatpartner but it's not mutual because minhyuk doesn't like to share Wonho)  
> Wonshik (VIXX) -- Leo [Dioptas/Canidae] (VIXX)
> 
> Not really important but for the list to be completed:
> 
> Yixing (EXO) -- Chen [Dioptas/Felidae] (EXO)  
> Jonghyun (SHINee) -- Taemin [Citrin/Felidae] (SHINee)  
> Sanghyuk (VIXX) -- Ken[Citrin/Canidae] (VIXX) heatpartner of Jin  
> Jackson (Got7) -- several for example Ilhoon [Citrin/Canidae] (BtoB) and Jinwoo [Citrin/Felidae] (Astro) because he's the owner of the hybrid brothel Papillon. His favorit and privat hybrid is Mark [Citrin/Felidae] (Got7) and Mark's heatpartner is going to be Yugyeom [Citrine/Felidae] (Got7) but that's not mentioned in the story so that's a little spoiler. 
> 
> Hope I helped you with this. ;)


	5. Pierced Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoongi and Jimin meet up with Doctor Jung faster than expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I finished the translation of chapter 5. All those of you who are here because of BTS and the medical kink will be happy will surely enjoy this update. In this chapter, a lot of things get explained again and there are some hints for upcoming updates, maybe you will find them. Enjoy reading and don't forget to leave kudos and or comments :3 see you next time~ <3

Yoongi ended the call and rubbed his fingers over his temples having a slight hint of a headache. It was quiet in his office. Outside in front of the window, the sun was shining and his gaze almost longingly fell on the wall clock. It was late afternoon, most of the employees were probably already on their way home but Yoongi couldn't even dream of stopping to work now. 

Since the problem with the faulty circuit boards had occurred and they had received complaints from long-term customers nearly every second, he had to work overtime without end. 

He had checked the entire company, every machine, and every working process several times but the mistake persisted and the more time passed, the more the company got into trouble. He simply couldn't explain where his customer's complaints came from. The product was manufactured the same way as all the years before but suddenly it started heating up as soon as it was installed by the customers, causing great damage. Or the chips which were pushed under the skin of newly sold hybrids, couldn't be read out correctly by the devices of the customers afterward. But where exactly was the mistake? Where was the shaky link in the chain?

When he first received a complaint from one of their major customers weeks ago, he hadn't thought too much about it. There could be a single faulty product here and there in the production of any product, no company could acquit itself of it, but since this first complaint many more had accumulated, all of them describing the same error. So Yoongi worked like possessed to eradicate the problem.

He had been personally at the company this morning to make some vernier adjustments to the machines without finding out what caused the problem. He had asked the supervisors whether new workers had recently been hired and whether the mistake had perhaps been caused by carelessness or even sabotage (which could never be completely ruled out as a market-leading company). But no, there were no new employees and he had not been able to find out anything disturbing about one of their long-standing employees. So Yoongi finally returned to his office to call all the manufacturers of the raw materials they were using in the production.

The last conversation which he had just finished had been with his father, who was currently abroad and seemed very concerned about the development of the problem. Yoongi had tried to argue with him that he would get a grip on things but his father couldn't be persuaded, he would return tomorrow morning by plane. Even if Yoongi doubted that his father would find the mistake before him. 

Yoongi sank back into his desk chair, sighed deeply and his heart became heavy. He would much rather sit with Namjoon at a shady spot at the lake and enjoy the nice weather instead of having to fight his way through various, often not exactly friendly worded emails.

He felt so weak and tired because of the sleep deprivation of the last weeks that he just wanted to lie in bed with Jimin in his arms and take a nap.

His hand slid to the mouse and he opened his mailbox to deal with the abundance of complaints his father usually dealt with. As he clicked on the first one, his gaze fell, as so often, over to the right corner of his office where Jimin was lying in his huge basket. The hybrid had curled up as usual and his ears twitched from time to time in his sleep. A smile crossed Yoongi's face. All it took was a single glance at his hybrid to increase not only his mood but also his motivation. 

He wished he could spend more time with Jimin at the moment but unfortunately, work was more important. Solving the problem had the highest priority and so Yoongi still hadn't found the time to practice speaking with his hybrid. 

When they were in bed together in the evenings, he told Jimin what was bothering him at work. He told him about the stress which made his job currently unbearable, but of course, the hybrid couldn't tell him the solution to his problems but instead was doomed to listen.

Jimin was able to distract him from the misery with his sweet kisses and gentle touches for a short moment, but as soon as Yoongi reached his climax, his thoughts wandered back to the buggy circuit boards and he hated himself for it. Jimin deserved a better master. 

Yoongi felt blindly for the coffee cup with his left hand before he began to read the mail. He carefully sipped on the hot drink and scrolled down the window. He opened a few sheets to access their inventory and found that they still had enough microchips for the customer in stock.

He apologized in the mail for the inconvenience and assured the customer that the delivery would be sent to him first thing in the morning.  
He opened the second mail. Answered it and clicked on the next one. He worked quickly and conscientiously but didn't notice how much time passed and when he looked up next it was because Jimin gently touched him.

"God heavens, Jimin! Don't scare me like that!" He puffed, his hand pressed against his throbbing heart while throwing a quick glance at the clock and then back to Jimin's face. The cheeks of the hybrid were quite red and his eyes looked glassy. Yoongi frowned. Jimin meowed softly and put his hand on Yoongi's knee.

He had been so absorbed in his work that he hadn't even noticed how his hybrid had woken up in the meantime, crawling silently over to him and so Yoongi nearly jumped out of his skin when the other had touched his hand.

He hadn't noticed it before but now he felt it more violently. Jimin's hand felt very warm through the fabric of Yoongi's pants. Yoongi rolled back with his chair and turned his upper body towards Jimin, who again made a cautious smokey meow sound.

"What's the matter, baby? Are you hungry?" Yoongi asked smiling as Jimin leaned his head against his knee. Yoongi carefully fondled the hybrid behind his fluffy ears and paused. Jimin's ears were burning!

Yoongi took Jimin's face in both hands and raised it. He laid a hand on the hybrid's forehead and a bad feeling spread in his stomach. He wasn't a doctor but he had touched Jimin's face often enough in the last few weeks to discover beyond any doubt even without a thermometer that his hybrid had a fever.

Did he catch something at the party? No, that was nearly impossible, because that had been two weeks ago and Jimin hadn't left the house since. Yoongi had gone to the factory for some hours from time to time to get an overview of the current situation but so far Yoongi hadn't been able to detect any symptoms of an illness. He glanced at Jimin's glazed eyes and flushed cheeks and the uneasy feeling was confirmed when he looked down and noticed that Jimin was aroused. 

He remembered the doctor explaining to him how he could recognize a heat and he fumbled for his cell phone with one hand while keeping an eye on Jimin. He quickly searched for the right number in his contacts and dialed.  
It rang twice before they picked up on the other side and a nice woman's voice confirmed to him that he was connected to the doctor's office.

"This is Min Yoongi speaking, I.... well, I think my hybrid has its first heat," he explained and his heart clenched as Jimin's body began to tremble. Yoongi saw his hybrid claw his fingernails into his thighs to prevent himself from laying hands on his arousal without his master's permission. Yoongi soothingly petted his head. 

"Would you mind telling me the name of your hybrid, Mr. Min?", the woman at the other end asked and Yoongi answered the question. He heard something being typed and then: "It's best to get your hybrid into our practice as soon as possible. Dr. Jung is currently treating his last patient for the day so until you get here, he's probably ready to help Jimin." Yoongi nodded, realizing that the woman could hardly see the movement and therefore confirmed once again that he had understood before he thanked her and hung up.

He pressed a button on his desk and not even two minutes later Kyungsoo knocked on his door. "Come in, Kyungsoo," Yoongi called and a young man with big round eyes, very short black hair and a full mouth entered the room. As usual, he was dressed in a black suit and tie, a white shirt and white gloves.

"How can I help, Master Yoongi?", he asked as soon as he closed the door behind him and Yoongi smiled at him.  
"Would you be so good and get the car? We need to take Jimin to Doctor Jung's practice," he explained. The butler nodded and set off without further questions. Yoongi liked Kyungsoo's professionalism, he never asked too many questions, just did what he was asked to do and Yoongi appreciated that about him. 

Twenty minutes later, Yoongi and Jimin reached the practice. Hoseok waited already in the lobby, hands on his hips and his head slightly tilted.  
"I didn't think I'd see you back here this soon.“ The doctor smiled and shook hands with Yoongi.  
"Neither do I. Especially since you've said, if I'm lucky, I'll be spared another year because Jimin is still so young,“ Hoseok laughed. "Well, I guess luck wasn't on your side."

Yoongi scratched his head and followed Hoseok into the examination room. Once the door was closed behind them, Yoongi released his hybrid of the leash, collar, shoes, and coat.  
It had been a real challenge at home to get Jimin into the coat because the temperature of the hybrid had risen a little bit further and it seemed he felt unbearably hot even without clothes. 

The setting sun bathed the room in a warm orange light. "Well, here's how we can do this: either I'll tell you what I'll do to him and you can go home and pick him up tomorrow morning, or you can pull an all-nighter with me."  
While speaking Hoseok rolled up the sleeves of his gown and Yoongi frowned. „Pull an all-nighter?“ he asked uncertainly and Hoseok nodded. 

"Usually the heat lasts two to three days but not the first time. I expect an average of about twelve hours for the first heat. Sometimes less. Luckily, I won't have any patient tomorrow until noon."  
The doctor yawned heartily and only now Yoongi noticed the deep shadows visible under the doctor's eyes. He looked like he'd had a pretty tiring time as well. Quite unlike Yoongi's first visit a month ago or at the party two weeks ago.

Jimin's hands gripped Yoongi's arm and he looked surprised over his shoulder to his hybrid, which was hiding anxiously behind him. 

"What's wrong, Jimin? The doctor will take good care of you," Yoongi tried to calm him down but Jimin meowed wailingly and squinted his eyes together.  
"Do you want me to stay here with you?" he asked gently, running his hand carefully over Jimins. The hybrid nodded slightly and chewed uncertainly on its lower lip.  
"All right, go to the examination table. I'll tell Kyungsoo it'll take longer so he can drive back home."

Jimin let him go obediently and did as he was told, while Yoongi briefly left the room to call the butler. That was faster than walking down to the car. The phone call was short, because as mentioned Kyungsoo never asked too many questions. When Yoongi returned to the examination room, the doctor was busy fixing Jimin's hands to the metal table with leather cuffs. Yoongi frowned as he walked towards them and looked at Jimin's scared face. 

"Is this really necessary, doc?" Yoongi asked and Hoseok nodded slowly as he started to fix Jimin's feet as well. When he finally finished, Jimin was completely tied up in front of them. The arms relaxed left and right next to the body and the legs slightly spread and angled, attached to the table in a way that only the soles of his feet still touched it.  
"Once the heat gets through, he won't behave that well anymore. Then we're dealing with a wildcat and it's better to protect Jimin and us from injuries," explained Hoseok, who reassuringly patted Jimin's knee as he spoke.  
The hybrid still seemed unhappy about its limited freedom of movement but Yoongi had sat down next to the table and stroked Jimin's hand to calm his darling. 

"Had he tried to touch himself?" Hoseok asked and Yoongi nodded. "I let him because it seemed to help him. You told me that it is very difficult for him to resist the craving." Hoseok gave him a radiant smile. "I'm glad you took my advice to heart. I wonder, if some of my customers, even listen to me when I give them advice on how to handle their hybrids properly."

He reached for the thermometer, checked Jimin's temperature at the ear and nodded contentedly. "Very good, it started about an hour ago, right? The sooner we start doing something about it, the faster the heat will subside," explained the doctor and Yoongi watched as Hoseok pushed a small trolley to the examination table. On top of it, there lay a breathing mask, it’s thin transparent tubes connected to a complicated-looking apparatus. 

"What's this?" asked Yoongi, looking at the device with interest. Machines of all kinds had always fascinated him. He could conclude from the mask that it was a respirator but what did Hoseok need it for?  
"This is a special respirator for hybrids. You have to know, nothing about hybrids interests me as much as the Heat. For a long time, I focused my research studies exclusively on this topic and I found out some interesting things. For example, how important the right smell is."

He laughed, reached for the transparent mask and carefully placed it over Jimin's mouth and nose. "Well, actually, that doesn't only apply to hybrids, even we use the phrase 'I can't stand you [1]' when we don't like each other, right?" ([1] In German we say, "I can't smell him/her" when we don't like a person, so in the English version this doesn't make any sense. Why is translating so difficult??! ;A;)

Yoongi gently stroked Jimin's hand as he listened to Hoseok, watching as he walked over to the strange refrigerator he'd had already noticed on his first visit.

"If hybrids would live in the open countryside, let's say in a pack like wolves do, they would surely find the right partner in the course of their lifetime, they would 'imprint' on someone and finally, once they're sexually mature 'mate' said person." Yoongi frowned. Those terms didn't tell him anything. 

"What does this mean? To imprint and to mate?" Hoseok came back to the table with a labeled tube, opened a small flap on the respirator with a button and slid the tube into it. 

"To imprint, well, how can I explain it ... hmm ..." He deliberately tapped his chin with his forefinger. "It's hard to describe without it sounding completely weird. Um, do you have a very good friend? Someone, you would call your soulmate?" Yoongi nodded. "Yes, my friend Namjoon."  
Hoseok's face brightened. "Oh yeah, right, I remember seeing you at Wonshik's party together, didn't know you were friends! How long have you known each other?" Yoongi thought for a moment.  
"I don't know, since kindergarten or something?" Hoseok clapped his hands.

"Ah, then you two are a good example to explain that. Look, the feeling that you have for Namjoon, that family sense of security that you only feel with very close friends. It's like an invisible mark someone left on you. I'm talking about all the experiences and memories you share, your inner bond, you know? In terms of hybrids, you would say you 'imprinted' on each other. When it comes to the term 'mate' you have to imagine it like a wedding of two souls."

Yoongi skeptically raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms in front of his chest: "Am I getting this right? If Namjoon and I were hybrids, would we get married someday just because we get along so well?" This concept was more than strange to him. Hoseok nodded slowly. "Yes, it would at least be an option. Let's say, hypothetically: you and Namjoon were hybrids and would have sex together during one of your heats, then he would be your heatpartner. This is comparable to a 'friends with benefits'-relationship among humans. But if you would bite Namjoon here during the heat. . ." He took Jimin's chin gently and turned his head to show Yoongi the scent marks on his neck as he did on his first visit. "Then the so-called 'bonding' takes place and you'd be mates afterward. That's like a mixture of a blood brother and a spouse. The memories, feelings, and thoughts mix together, a hybrid then knows what his mate feels and thinks, always and everywhere." 

Yoongi opened his mouth in amazement. It all sounded like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie. "Wow, kind of hard to believe that this is actually possible," he muttered and Hoseok smirked. "Imagine if something like that would work out with humans." He laughed out loud. "You could never cheat on your partner because he would be practically live there with you while you cheat on him!" At this imagination, Yoongi had to laugh too. If he admits it, he found this train of thought, fascinating and creepy at the same time.

"But wait a minute, Leo was talking to Jimin through telepathy, even though they're not mates, so what's the difference?", Yoongi asked, recalling the evening at Wonshik and his meeting with the two Dioptas during Hoseok's explanations.  
"All hybrids can talk to each other through facial expressions, gestures and even thoughts, that's right. But between mates, it's much deeper. Let's assume that Jimin has a secret which he doesn't want to tell Leo. Then Leo just can't, as you might imagine, keep looking for it in Jimin's mind until he finds the answer, you know? Thoughts and memories that hybrids don't want to share with anyone can be locked away. However, this doesn't apply to mates. In this case, one can literally say that they can read each other's thoughts like an open book. Which is why it's very important, that this bond is wanted by both hybrids because you can't undo it."

Yoongi had been so absorbed in his thoughts, about what Hoseok had just explained to him, that he hadn't noticed how the doctor had turned on the machine next to Jimin during his monologue. That's why Yoongi looked down a little surprised at his hybrid when he started purring and sighing loudly and in a strange dark voice. Jimin squirmed in his shackles bending his back.

"What exactly is he breathing in now?" Yoongi asked, remembering the small tube Hoseok had put into the machine. "This is a blend of different fragrance samples of mature Felidae hybrids. It would take too long to find a suitable sample for each hybrid, so I experimented a little and so far everyone reacted to this mixture". For a moment Hoseok looked as if he wanted to give himself a pat on the back for the idea to mix several samples in order to achieve the best possible result. 

But Yoongi's thoughts were almost instantly directed at something else. "Uh, doc, what's happening there?" he asked in horror as he looked down at Jimin's penis and noticed that it was getting bigger than usual. Also, strange spikes had appeared right under the glans, which certainly hadn't been there five minutes ago. "Don't worry, Jimin's body only responds to the pheromones he's inhaling. The animal in him is fooled by the smell, thinking that partners who are willing to mate are nearby and his body is preparing for the act."

Hoseok walked around the table so he could see better between Jimin's legs and beckoned Yoongi to him. "Male hybrids have a particularly hard time because their body reacts like a female during the heat. See, he gets all wet on its own, so that the penetration by the male won't be as painful." Yoongi felt himself blush a little as he let his gaze wander with blatant interest between Jimin's cheeks and watched with an inner satisfaction as the natural lubricant slowly seeped out of him. Then an embarrassing thought occurred to him and his head twitched, a little redder, in Hoseok's direction. 

"I-if you're talking about penetration, then you don't want me to have sex with him right now, do you?"  
Yoongi wasn't a prude but that would clearly go too far for him. Hoseok looked perplexed at him for a moment, surprised by the question, and then laughed out loud. "What? No, no." He waved his hand as if he wanted to scare away a pushy fly. "I don't want to offend you, but I'm afraid no matter how well you may be built down there, it won't be enough to satisfy Jimin. Not if he's in this condition."

While Hoseok pointed to him, Jimin had just reared up and moaned loud and piercingly. The mask on mouth and nose fogged repeatedly from the breaths of the hybrid and as if that wasn't enough indicator, Yoongi noticed by the up and down of the chest that the breathing of the hybrid had accelerated significantly. It almost resembled the panting of a dog and was strange to see. He squirmed on the table, as much as his bondage allowed it, moving his head back and forth, his eyes compressed and in a kind of ecstasy, Yoongi couldn't really describe. Jimin looked like he was being exorcised and Yoongi remembered that Hoseok had told him the heat would affect the body of a hybrid like heavy drinking would affect humans, Jimin seemed strangely detached from his body. 

Hoseok went to a cupboard to the right of the table, crouched down and opened one of the lower drawers. He took something out and when he came back with it Yoongi saw himself confronted with the biggest dildo he had ever seen in his young life.  
"What the hell?!", he breathed in horror and looked like a fish out of water because he kept opening his mouth in astonishment and then had to force himself to close it again. 

"You... you're not about to shove this 'thing'... into him, aren't you?" he asked quite worried and looked at the trembling and twitching body of his little darling on the table.  
"Sure that. It's exactly what he needs now, trust me," Hoseok said casually conversational and put the dildo on the table next to Jimin. Yoongi looked at it more closely. It was indeed much bigger and thicker than his own penis. But he didn't feel bad about it, because he doubted that any man on earth was carrying such a monster in his pants. Yoongi had never seen the erect penis of a horse, but that's exactly how he imagined it. 

The dildo was black and made of the same latex-like material as all toys he had seen so far. At the end of the shaft, there was a handle (probably for better 'handling'), a short thin tube and at the end of said tube a ball about the size of a tennis ball.

"What's the ball for?" asked Yoongi, who had turned a little pale around the tip of his nose. Hoseok put on fresh gloves and smiled as he picked up the dildo again. He held the toy by the handle and took the rubber ball into the other hand, then he squeezed the ball and Yoongi heard the distinct sound of air being sucked out of the room. Hoseok pressed the ball a few times and now Yoongi saw with a queasy feeling in his stomach that the dildo could be inflated at the end of the shaft.

"Hoseok... if you put this thing inside him, isn't he totally... well... 'worn out' afterward?" It wasn't Yoongi's only thought, he was also afraid the enormous size would hurt Jimin.  
"No, after the heat, to you everything will feel the same as before." On closer inspection of Yoongi, he added. "And it won't hurt him either. . . ", he patted the inflated part of the dildo gently. "The heat subsides fastest if he's being knotted. Of course, we could just bring him to the climax over and over again by hand but after that, he would be sore and it will be an hour-long torture for him, during which no real satisfaction sets in and the body doesn't get any rest. The combination of the knot and the pheromones he inhales is the best way to help a hybrid with its first heat."

He reached into the box with disposable gloves and handed some to Yoongi. "Here, put these on. You can assist me," he instructed him and Yoongi looked at the gloves skeptically.  
"What should I do?" he asked unsure of what to do and Hoseok pointed at Jimin's penis.  
"Jerk him off." he simply said and Yoongi looked down at the gloves again. "Okay, but why the gloves?" Hoseok tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders.  
"Well, of course, you can do it without them, but I've noticed that the spines can feel pretty unpleasant after a while. They're not really sharp or anything, but I personally don't like rubbing over them directly." Yoongi decided to trust Hosek's experience and forced himself into the tight, light blue gloves.  
"Here. " Hoseok gave him a tube of lubricant and together they got to work.

Yoongi squeezed a generous amount of the cool gel into his palm and then carefully grabbed Jimin's arousal. Neither of them spoke while helping Jimin through the heat. Yoongi had found it a little strange during the first few minutes that Hoseok was in the same room as him while he was stroking Jimin's penis, but the practice around them and the knowledge that only this act could help Jimin with his problem somehow desexualized the whole situation. Of course, it was an intimate experience to watch how Hoseok pushed this huge dildo deeper and deeper into Jimin's body, but it didn't excite him. To him, it felt more like attending surgery than having sex because of the environment. Jimin moaned, sighed and screamed, again and again, completely caught by his lust. 

"Hoseok, he's crying." Yoongi gasped at some point, but the doctor didn't seem worried. "That's not so unusual. The heat demands a lot from a hybrid, not only physically but also emotionally. Don't worry, he's fine," Hoseok explained, pushing the dildo deep into Jimin one last time, then reaching for the ball to squeeze it a couple of times. As soon as the knot had formed inside the hybrid, Jimin reached his climax with a loud cry in Yoongis hand and shortly afterward all his limbs relaxed and his head fell to the side exhausted. Suddenly the hybrid laid there looking like he was dead, the only thing that spoke against it was the chest, which raised and lowered slow and evenly. 

Hoseok circled the table, pulled the mask off Jimin's face and turned the machine off. "Well, that went better than expected. He's gonna sleep a few hours now, and then this whole process starts all over again. Do you want coffee?" Hoseok asked and Yoongi looked at the other puzzled.

"We... um, just leave him here like that? With that thing inside him," he wanted to know, the idea alone creeped him out.  
"If we take the dildo out of him, he'll wake up in five minutes and everything will start again. His body now needs a break so he can rest a little. The doctor took off his gloves and disposed of them in a trash can, then went to a cupboard, this time opening a drawer further up and took out a thin blanket. 

"We'll cover him up now so he doesn't freeze and might get sick and then we wait until the first cool down phase ends." Yoongi felt stupid because he had to keep asking for nearly everything, but he wanted to understand what Hoseok told him about his hybrid's heat and so he asked what exactly a cool down was.

"That's a short phase between sleep and heat, when your hybrid is his normal self, at least until the next heat phase takes over," Hoseok explained and went ahead into the corridor. "Jisoo, could you please keep an eye on the patient and let us know when he wakes up?" Hoseok asked his employee at the counter and she nodded. "Of course, Doctor Jung." 

They went into the kitchen and Hoseok brewed a cup of strong coffee for Yoongi and himself. Yoongi looked around the small room. It contained a small white kitchenette with a sink. There was no stove but a microwave. The coffee machine was right next to a kettle. Then next to that was a shelf in which glasses, cups, different kinds of teas and coffee pads found their place.

"Milk and sugar?" Yoongi shook his head. "Just milk, please.", he said as he pulled a chair forward to sit on it. There was a small table with three chairs on one wall. Directly above, a large calendar had been hung, on which the vacation times of the medical assistants were marked with various bright colors. Below it hung the shift schedule and a list of phone numbers. On a small cabinet in the corner stood an old radio, emitting soft music. Hoseok came swinging his hips back and forth to match the music, with both cups in hand and it was a mystery to Yoongi how the other managed it not to spill anything.

"Soo, here you go. We've earned it," Hoseok hummed when he put the cup in front of Yoongi. Then he sat down on the chair opposite of him. "You don't look like you're getting much sleep at the moment either, do you?" joked Hoseok as he watched Yoongi rub his eyes tiredly.  
"Nope, there are some problems at work right now," Yoongi muttered tired and sad at the same time. Hoseok tilted his head.

"What kind of problems?", he wanted to know honestly interested and Yoongi told him about the faulty circuit boards that made his life hell for a few weeks.  
"The way you describe it, it's really a strange problem. Does that mean that the manufactured goods work perfectly at the company and as soon as they reach the customer they suddenly cause problems?" Yoongi nodded and rested his head on the palm of his hand.  
"Yeah, crazy, right? I have no idea what's going on. Father is coming home tomorrow and I hope we can find the mistake together as soon as possible." Hoseok nodded seriously.  
"I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. That really doesn't sound good. You have a pretty good reputation to lose."  
Yoongi grumbled in agreement and silence settled over the room. For a brief moment, they both seemed to be thinking their own thoughts until Yoongi finally came up with something.

"Oh, yes, what I wanted to ask you,“ he started and Hoseok raised his head again as a sign that he was listening. "I've been thinking about this piercing thing and now that I've seen Leo and Wonho, I'd really like to get Jimin pierced," Yoongi explained and Hoseok smiled. "Do I have to make an extra appointment for that?" he asked, but the doctor shook his head.  
"No, the timing is perfect, if I pierce him today he will hardly feel any pain because the heat makes his body insensitive to almost everything but arousal. It has an anesthetic effect on the body, pretty handy if you ask me." He raised the cup to his lips and blew lightly.

"Do you prefer nipple barbells or rings?" Hoseok asked and Yoongi took the cup in his hand to blow. "Where's the difference?" Hoseok shrugged. "There isn't one. In the beginning, it's just medical plugs until everything is healed. But with rings, he could get stuck unintentionally. There are Felidae who are quite active and walk around a lot, there is a greater chance of them getting hurt. Is Jimin very active?" Yoongi thought briefly. 

"Not really. He sleeps quite a lot, but that is relatively normal for cats as far as I know. Only once he was running around full of vim even jumping on furniture after I gave him a little bit of coffee to drink." Hoseok looked at him blankly, then he laughed. "Didn't you know that it's best to just give hybrids water and a bit of milk now and then?"  
Yoongi looked ashamed down into his coffee mug. "I still have a lot to learn. Namjoon had told me years ago that the same thing had happened to him with Jin and a bottle of Coke, but I had forgotten about it," he confessed and Hoseok laughed even louder.

"Oh dear, then, I suppose, he really had fun. Hybrids don't really get along well with caffeine. Either they're totally excited afterward or they get sick." Hoseok shook his head giggling. "A customer once told me how his hybrid vomited over the designer handbag of his wife. Sometimes I really wish people would learn more about their hybrids, then, something like that wouldn't happen." Yoongi knew it wasn't funny, but the story about the designer handbag amused him a little, so he grinned stupidly. 

Then he remembered how they had even come up with the subject: "If it doesn't make a difference, I think I would prefer rings over barbells. Is there anything, in particular, I have to pay attention to?" He sipped his coffee carefully for the first time and sighed happily as the dark bitter drink ran down his throat pleasantly warm.  
"Yes, you have to disinfect them daily, especially at the beginning, and under no circumstances should you play around with them during sex. Not for at least three weeks, but I would play safe and keep your hands off them for even longer. Believe me, they can get infected pretty fast and then it gets ugly." Yoongi pouted at the thought of not being allowed to stimulate Jimin at his nipples for such a long time, but deep within he knew that Hoseok was right. If he wanted Jimin to look pretty for him, Yoongi just had to pull himself together for a few weeks. "Alright, I won't touch him any more than necessary," he finally mumbled, and again it became quiet around them. 

This time it was Hoseok who broke the silence. "Have you already talked to Jimin yet?", he wanted to know interested but Yoongi just shook his head sadly. "No, he doesn't speak at all. Not even a single word. My father told me that most hybrids need a bit of time before they talk to you because they have to get used to the new environment. But his hybrids have started to talk after about a week, even if it is only single words and simple sentences they're able to say until today. But Jimin refuses to tell me anything. I'm starting to think he's kind of sick or something." He wrung his hands together. "You were right, he understands me very well. I tell him a lot about my problems at the moment and I can see that he understands me, but well, so far the conversations between us are very one-sided." He shrugged his shoulders a little uncertainly. 

Hoseok placed the cup on the table and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "That's really strange. It's like I told you, I'm convinced he's able to speak. His genes clearly indicate that he's a Dioptas. If he was trained as such, he learned how to speak. I mean, why would they have branded him if he doesn't master the most important ability as a Dioptas? No customer would spend so much money on a mute one."

Yoongi nodded. "Can you think of a reason why he might have become this way? Are there any other Dioptas you know of, that don't talk?" Hoseok thought briefly. He rocked his head back and forth.  
"No, there isn't one who doesn't speak. The class a hybrid belongs to depends on various factors. Mostly, how the genes of humans and animals were combined. Axinit- and Benitoit hybrids, for example, have much more animal genes than Citrin and Dioptas. That's why the former can't speak. With the latter, unwanted animal traits were gradually bred away retaining only those that were wanted, such as the tail and ears. Within the Dioptas class, they used predatory genes for the first time because predators are considered smarter than common pets. The overbred domestic cat breeds of today, wouldn't survive long in the wild. They are used to eating their prepared meals in a bowl every day. Of course, they still have hunting instincts, but these are so atrophied that they are often unable to hunt birds and mice to survive. It's different with predators. Life in the open countryside is hard and often unfair. It applies the law of the fittest, natural selection, eat or be eaten. The goal of the scientists was to clearly distinguish the new class aka the Dioptas from the Citrin, not just by giving them a higher IQ but also externally through the blue eye color." 

Yoongi hung on Hoseok's lips like he was his teacher, absorbing every piece of information like a sponge. "Since Dioptas are possessing the largest proportion of human genes of all previous hybrid classes and these are also crossed with the genes of predators classified as intelligent, Dioptas are basically in no way inferior to humans. During their training, they learn to read, write and study other subjects which human children also learn. Once they are old enough, the sexual training is added and they are taught which values are important. Above all, the highest precept is, that the well-being and the command of the 'Master', which is synonymous with 'human being', is always placed in front of one's own interests and desires. If the Master commands 'I want sex!' then you have sex with the Master, whether you like it or not. If the Master commands 'Jump off this bridge!' then you do it without wasting any thought as to whether it be right or wrong. Because if you refuse, you'll have to suffer a draconic punishment."

Hoseok, disgusted by his own words, twisted his mouth and took a break from his monologue to drink his coffee. Yoongi did the same and they listened together to a melancholic song emitting from the radio, which fit perfectly into the suddenly depressed mood. Yoongi felt queasy because of Hoseok's words. He knew Hoseok was right, but humans tended to push unpleasant things away from them. He knew nothing about the conditions in the respective schools, didn't know what the hybrids were possibly taught in painful lessons before they were sold. All he knew was that they had to sacrifice their lives for slavery. The only other choice they had was death.

"The only time hybrids can be themselves is while being in heat, then they are among their peers. For the first time since training, they are on the same level with someone. Someone who takes care of them without giving them orders." He drank another sip and then put the mug down again. 

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you why Jimin doesn't speak. Maybe it could help to call the Bangtan school and ask them? If Jimin would have never learned to speak, although he had been trained and raised as a Dioptas, they would have killed him as a child. It's not worth to invest this much time and money in a hybrid that doesn't meet the desired criteria in the end. I think Jimin may have had a very traumatic experience recently and isn't speaking to protect himself from something? Maybe he's afraid of something in particular? There could be a hundred different reasons, Yoongi."

The clock on the wall ticked and ticked. The hands were moving slowly in the circle while they waited in the kitchen. It was time for the news on the radio: "The police found the bodies of two men, probably in their mid-twenties, at a small forest area east of Luoes. A pensioner had discovered them early in the morning during a walk and informed the police. The exact cause of death can hardly be identified because of the massive mutilation of the bodies, but it is assumed that the two men were first tortured and then strangled. The forest has been cordoned off extensively to secure traces, but so far without success. The men have no identity documents with them, which makes it difficult to identify them. The perpetrators have acted with extreme brutality, but the motive for the murder is unclear so far. It's a fact that the men were not killed in the forest, but brought there hours after they have been murdered. Residents in the area should nevertheless avoid the forest for the time being, as it could be that the perpetrators are still in the area... The new draft bill of..." 

Yoongi didn't listen anymore. "Do you have a toilet?" he asked into the chatter of the newscaster and Hoseok nodded. "It's left next to the waiting room," he explained with a smile. Yoongi thanked him and set off. He left the kitchen, glanced at the medical assistant's computer screen as he passed by and then walked towards the door, which had to be the toilet.

When he returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, he saw that Hoseok had put his arms on the table in front of him and leaned his head on them to close his eyes for a few minutes. On the radio, the newscaster rattled down the latest weather data for the upcoming week and Yoongi rubbed his eyes tiredly. He pulled out his chair again and sat on it a little ponderously. 

"Welcome back," mumbled Hoseok without lifting his head or opening his eyes and Yoongi smiled. Hoseok was really a very strange doctor. It was probably due to his age, but Yoongi felt more like sitting here with a good friend than with a qualified doctor whom he had only met a few times before. Hoseok somehow managed to create a pleasant atmosphere in which one immediately felt comfortable.

"Do you want to get some sleep? Or would it be okay if I asked you another question?" Hoseok slowly lifted an eyelid and blinked, waiting. "So, on my first visit, you told me these toys, like the one we just used on him, don't work forever and that he will be needing the knot of another hybrid soon. You told me, you would explain it more detailed after Jimin got his first heat." Hoseok straightened up and smiled like the rising sun. 

"Yes, that's right, I remember. So here's the thing: Now that Jimin is experiencing his first heat, his smell changes. This only happens once in a hybrid's life, when he becomes sexually mature. This means that once this heat is over, he perceives the smell of other hybrids more clearly and vice versa. The heat will come back every five months now, so Jimin is in need of a heat partner and not just anyone. It has to be someone he can 'smell'." He put the word in quotation marks with his fingers.

"Of course, there is the possibility to combine just any hybrids, but this leads to problems over time. With Axinit and Benitoit hybrids, the right choice of partner may be not that important because the drive for reproduction is so strong that it is relatively irrelevant to them with whom they satisfy it. However, the higher classes may experience severe depression when an animal is brought together with a partner they don't like. It may even go as far as that the animals inflict serious injuries during the heat or one kills the other, just so he is finally released."  
Yoongi opened his mouth in horror. "You can imagine it, like a forced marriage. A girl is married to a man who abuses her and to avoid further abuse she kills either herself or the hated husband."

Hoseok supported his elbows on the table and folded his hands in front of his mouth. "That's terrible," Yoongi mumbled shocked and Hoseok nodded seriously. "It was really hard to find the right partner for his hybrid a few years ago. First, because there weren't that many hybrids out there yet and secondly, because people thought it would be enough like with the lower classes to take just anyone. Quite a lot of Citrin hybrids died because no one could explain what the problem was until scientists and doctors like me found out about the whole smell thing."

Hoseok got up, went out into the hall and returned with a small flyer in hand. "Then this great man here came up with the idea of starting a club where hybrids can get to know each other. It works a bit like a speed dating. The 'Yeol' is not the biggest heat club in the city, but many think of it as the best because the atmosphere is very familiar. It costs a small fee to be included in the card index and all that, you will find all the information in this flyer. I would recommend you to go there several times a week. As soon as the right one will come through the door, Jimin will react to him and voilà you have a fitting heat partner for your hybrid." 

Hoseok clapped his hands at the voilà and Yoongi glanced at the flyer which Hoseok had handed him. The cover was eye cancer-causing. Colorful designed in a way Yoongi would have designed it if he had wanted to invite someone to an LSD party. In big red-yellow letters the words 'Heat club Yeol' was written over the page and in a small round bubble in the lower right corner was something like a fictional seal which read 'The No. 1 Heat club of Luous'. Yoongi opened the flyer and inside the design was more serious and not as colorful. There was a brief explanation of what a Heat club actually was, but the wording sounded similar to what Hoseok had just told him.

The opening hours were above a short list of the costs. There was a registration fee and if your search for a heat partner had been successful you also had to pay. In addition, a small in-house café where you could get coffee and cake was advertised. On the opposite side, there were pictures of exemplarily selected hybrid couples who had gotten to know and love each other, through the club. On the back, one could find a small map, which provided information about the possibilities of the journey to the club, the address, and a telephone number. 

"So you just go there and have a cup of coffee while the hybrids get to know each other," he asked insecurely because he had expected something more complicated. "Yes, exactly, when Jimin is done with his heat tomorrow morning I will inscribe on his chip that he is now sexually mature and then you can go to this address any time without making an appointment. Everything else will be explained to you directly on the spot, but it's really not a big deal. You can get in contact and talk to hybrid owners from all over the city there. I don't have a hybrid on my own, honestly, I wouldn't have enough time for it, but I've been to the club a few times because I'm good friends with the owner. I'm sure you'll feel comfortable there."

Yoongi nodded in understanding, folded the flyer and put it in his pocket. He would ask Namjoon the next day if he had met Jin's Heat partner in this club or if he would recommend another one. It wasn't that Yoongi didn't trust Hoseok's recommendation, but since it was described as the best-known club, it sounded very much like a lot of pompous aristocrats were walking around there and Yoongi didn't feel like meeting any of them. 

"Do female hybrids have to go to a club like this, too?" asked Yoongi because he was sure his father never mentioned a club for hybrids before. "Yes, there will be females as well. If Jimin should react to one of them, you and the owner have to be very careful. Then, one of the two must be sterilized to prevent prohibited pregnancies."  
Yoongi huffed. His head was spinning. He wanted to be a good master for Jimin, but there was still so much he didn't know about hybrids.   
"Is there actually a book that explains everything to you? Like a 'Hybrid knowledge for dummies'-guide or something? Or can you be hired for private lessons?," he asked with a wry smile and Hoseok laughed.

"Don't worry, Yoongi. Most of my customers come to me with dangerous half-knowledge when it comes to hybrids. Many think, 'Oh, I've had a cat for years, how much harder can it be to have a Felidae hybrid as a pet?' but then they quickly realize that the animals are not only expensive to buy but also in need of a lot of time and attention. Although the penalties for owners who treat their hybrids badly are simply laughable in my eyes. The hybrid is taken away from them and they have to pay a fine. Then your name gets into an index that forbids you to buy a new hybrid. This law has so many loopholes, it's pathetic! Let's call it what it is, a large percentage of the people don't care about the fate of most hybrids. Mankind has played God by creating hybrids, but as so often shown in history, this example has once again made clear how dangerous it is to turn humans into gods."

Hoseok turned his head away and Yoongi saw the doctor's jawbone grinding with suppressed rage. Yoongi felt bad because everything Hoseok said was true. Until he got Jimin, he himself had always regarded hybrids as objects only.  
Mostly like a car that you buy, use and if it's broken or old, replace with a newer, nicer one. He hadn't really thought that hybrids could have their own history, feelings, and dreams because it was always portrayed in the media as if they were stupid animals who had no idea about such things. Only since he owned Jimin he had realized that he wasn't an emotionally neutral robot or a moving sex doll, but a living being.

"It's getting to you, isn't it? Seeing all this injustice day by day, yet not being able to change anything about it." Yoongi's voice was gentle. Hoseok nodded and swallowed heavily. He clenched his hands, which lay on the table in front of him.

"I wanted to become a doctor for hybrids because I was fascinated by this new way of life. Since being a child, I was thrilled by science after the first classes went on sale. I mean, how fantastic is it, that we are able to cross our own life form with that of another species? But the older I got, the more I understood how this whole thing actually works. It really disgusted me. Instead of understanding our creation and co-existing peacefully with it, instead of learning from the hybrids, we enslave them because we believe we are something better." 

Hoseok raised his eyes and looked wearily at Yoongi. "I'm torn inside, Yoongi. I want to help the hybrids, but I am doomed to show the owners how to keep their slaves down. With every new customer, I show which sexual qualities stand out in the respective hybrid. I even often imagine how much fun the owner will have as soon as he drives home with the hybrid after the examination... but there's also this other side in me, the side that wants to scream. The one that's about to drive to the owner's address and yell at him that he can't simply use his hybrid as he pleases. The side that wants it to stop. The one that wants hybrids to finally be recognized as equal before the law."  
He shook his head in distress. "It will take years, who knows, maybe I won't even live long enough to experience it. Maybe someday hybrids will be allowed to control their own lives, but that would require a lot of changes."

A lump had formed in Yoongi's throat and the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach became almost unbearable. He felt sick. He felt once again how helpless one could be in some situations.  
Namjoon would have known for sure what to say, for Hoseok to cheer up, but Yoongi's brain was empty. There simply were no words in his head to comfort the other in his grief and a heavy, leaden silence formed over them. 

Yoongi stared down into his empty coffee cup as if it was a gateway to another world where everything was better. In which hybrids were treated fairly. A world with no slavery, no murder, and no hatred. Yoongi didn't pay attention to the time, together they listened to song after song on the radio and both followed their own thoughts.

"Doctor, the patient is awake," a woman's voice suddenly said and Yoongi flinched. Hoseok lifted his head and got up from his chair. Yoongi did the same and followed him out of the room, through the reception area into the examination room, where Jimin, of course, was still lying exactly as they had left him over an hour ago. His eyes danced anxiously in their sockets and he meowed very loudly and miserably until his eyes fell on Yoongi, which apparently calmed him down.

"Hey baby, are you alright?" asked Yoongi, who gently wiped tears from Jimin's cheeks and pressed a gentle kiss on the sweaty forehead of the hybrid. Jimin nodded slightly and meowed again, but this time it sounded much more pleased. "Good." Yoongi smiled happily.

"Jimin you have to drink a lot because of the fever," explained Hoseok and Yoongi heard the hissing sound of a sparkling water bottle being opened next to him. They helped Jimin to get up a bit so that the hybrid was able to drink. When Hoseok took the bottle away it was considerably emptier and Jimin exhausted but apparently happy, sunk back on the table.

"Do you have a toothache, Jimin? Does your jaw hurt?" Hoseok asked surprisingly and Yoongi frowned. Jimin nibbled around on his lower lip, but finally, he nodded. "Okay, fine.", Hoseok mumbled and scurried to a cupboard on the left which he opened and came back with something blue. It was out of some kind of foam in the shape of a small horseshoe. "Now open up, say 'ah'!" Hoseok said friendly and the hybrid obediently opened its mouth. Hoseok shoved the little blue thing into Jimin's mouth and smiled.

"Now you can bite firmly without damaging your teeth," he explained and Jimin closed his mouth again. Yoongi looked at the cheekbones as Jimin bit on the blue thing and then started purring. "You have to know, Felidae have an indeterminate desire to bite something during the heat. Some have that urge more than others, especially Felidae with genes of predatory cats." Yoongi gently caressed Jimin's ear while watching his hybrid chew on the dental splint. 

Hoseok picked up the thermometer again and checked on the other ear whether the second heat interval had already started. He nodded. The temperature had slightly raised again, but it would take a while before the Heat took over Jimin's body again. He turned around on his heel, went over to some drawers here and there to get some things out. After a short time, he stood in front of the table with various sterile wrapped objects and placed them next to him.

"Okaaay, Jimin. Now it's time to give you the pretty piercings Yoongi would like to have on you," Hoseok said and the hybrid looked scared again. He took turns looking at Yoongi and then back at the doctor, who started preparing all the objects for the little procedure.

"You don't have to be afraid, Jimin. It won't hurt you." As if to prove it, he took Jimin's right nipple between two fingers and squeezed. Jimin reacted differently than Yoongi had expected. Hoseok had squeezed painfully, but the hybrid had sounded more aroused than pained when he groaned. 

The doctor took a pen and marked with small dots where the piercings should end up later. Making sure they would be straight in the middle. "Is it okay like this?" he asked and Yoongi nodded. He was still gently patting Jimin's head while Hoseok put on new gloves and generously cleansed the skin around the area to get pierced with disinfectant.

"Look at me if you're scared, baby," said Yoongi softly and Jimin's eyes immediately found his. His meow sounded a little weird around the splint in his mouth, but Yoongi heard the fear nonetheless.

The actual procedure went pretty fast and was not very spectacular. The nipple was grasped and fixed with a special pair of pliers, the needle was pierced through the skin and then the small sterile rings were threaded through the newly created opening. Finally, the ring was closed with a small ball and then everything was disinfected again and again to nip infections in the bud.

Jimin had kept still during the entire procedure and kept eye contact with Yoongi, who gave him a soft kiss on the mouth. "That was very, very brave, Jiminie~ Look at how pretty you're looking now", Yoongi purred and Jimin raised his head a little to look at the new jewelry on his body for the first time. 

At the moment the skin was pierced, he had twitched briefly, but not because it had hurt so bad, but rather because he was startled. Hoseok had worked quickly and precisely and seemed as satisfied with the result as Yoongi. He had always believed that piercing such a spot would bleed a lot more, but this was not the case.

Hoseok disposed of the items that could only be used once and threw the rest into a bowl so that his assistants could disinfect and rewrap them until the next procedure.

"I'll write down a medication you can give him. It's against mild pain and it prevents an infection," Hoseok explained as he threw the gloves into the trash can and went to his desk to print out and sign the recipe.

"Let him drink again, but you'll have to carefully remove the splint from his mouth," Hoseok said while typing some things on the computer. 

Yoongi carefully removed the splint from the hybrid's mouth with pointed fingers and lifted Jimin's head to let him drink again. When he touched the skin on the hybrid's neck, he clearly felt Jimin's temperature rising again. As he took the bottle away, Jimin released a deep piercing moan and Yoongi noticed that the hybrid's eyes were again as glassy as they had been a few hours ago.

"Seems like the Cool Down is over," Hoseok mumbled and blinking at him. "Well, what do you say? Ready for the second round?"

tbc~


	6. Infinity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xu Minghao plans with his men how they can take over the land and kill the king.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm back again with a newly translated chapter and since I got a comment from someone complaining about Dioptas already having too many characters I want to say something.  
> Dioptas is a really long story. It's not like It's finished with 100-200k. The German Version is over 100k already and the story is really just starting. Not every member of every band is important for the story, but I think my readers are really intelligent people so I'm sure every one of you will get which person might be important or is just a random character. With this chapter, most of the main characters are already in the game. You will get a lot of hints in this chapter of what will happen in future chapters. If you don't want to read a really long story with a lot of different characters and plot fine but please don't tell me things like: "please make the story all about BTS and separate the other ships to another story." because I just can't do this. All characters are connected, even if it doesn't seem like it at the moment. Please be patient and wait for all the things that will happen in future chapters. I promise all main characters will get their own big piece of the cake in the end. 
> 
> You might be confused at the beginning of this chapter because of all the new characters. There are five people sitting at that table: Huang Zitao (Huang), Wu Yifan (Wu/Kris) and Lu Han (Lu) from EXO with Xu Minghao and Wen Junhui from Seventeen.  
> Tell me in the comments if you got all the hidden hints in that first part of the chapter. Love you all~

"Good job, Huang. As Wen told me, the two were found by the police this morning," Minghao said after a long break and looked around right into the faces of his followers. It was just a small internal meeting since it was particularly important that the things which were discussed today didn't get heard by too many curious ears. Because as the saying goes: Too many cooks spoil the broth.

The room was small and stuffy without windows, as they were located in a small shabby office room in the basement of a large warehouse. A low-hanging lamp hung in the middle over a round wooden table, providing dim yellow light. The paint on the table already peeling off here and there. The five chairs around the table were creaking with every movement as if they want to collapse under their weight at any moment. Admittedly, nothing in this room reminded of the splendor of the time, when the business under Xu Dàdì, their former great leader was flourishing. But that's just the way it is when you had to rebuild a shattered empire again from the scratch.

"I hope you worked clean, so the cops won't connect the murder with us. We can't risk being busted again at this stage of our operation," he explained in a sharp tone and watched Huang with piercing eyes.

Before his father died a violent death, he had told Minghao which of his men he could trust with his life and these people were now sitting in front of him. The three generals of his father, the most important links in the chain of their organization: Huang Zitao, Wu Yifan, and Lu Han. After his father's death, they had become the most important figures in the game for the king's throne, even though Minghao had yet to earn their respect. They had been loyal to his father and had always followed him blindly, but WuZhiJing had never been officially handed over to Minghao, because the current King of Aerok, Lee Jinki, had tracked down their organization three years ago and executed Minghao's father known under the name, Xu Dàdì, as public enemy no. 1.

Huang Zitao, who had already served their organization under his father, was one of the best at eliminating unpleasant people. His father had taken little Zitao off the street saving him from going down the chute in a bitterly cold winter. After that it had been easy for Xu Dàdì to manipulate the boy because he owed him his life, didn't he?  
Today Huang was one of THE men when it came to illegal trading of arms at home and abroad. Due to his training in close combat and ranged attacks, he was also able to handle the weapons he did business with excellently, which is why it was advisable not to have him as an enemy. 

Huang shook his head in response to his statement and he twisted his mouth into a mocking grin. "I'm not an amateur, boss. None other than your dear father taught me the art of killing. You shouldn't underestimate his abilities," he explained in a calm, calculating tone. He was holding Minghao's gaze and fighting a silent duel with him about who would look away first. "I'm not underestimating my father, Huang. But I can sleep better if I know that the most important men of the organization are not resting on their success, but always paying attention to carry out their tasks with the utmost precision." Huang snorted at these words and finally turned his eyes away. Minghao chalked this up as a small inner triumph to earn the respect of the hitman. A brief moment of silence passed before he turned to the next one of his men. 

Wu Yifan had been sold to Xu Dadi by one of his men as a prodigy of science. While Wu's parents had always wanted a steep career in a large pharmaceutical company for their son, he himself had something completely different in mind. Under the pseudonym 'Kris', he had already started producing and selling synthetic drugs on a large scale in his own small laboratory at an early age. Fortunately for him, the Mafia had found him before the police could get their hands on him.

Wu had been given the choice to either join them or die. He was told to use WuZhiJing's wealth to develop his genius, so he could use his full potential to drive the organization forward. Wu had not joined them because he was afraid of dying, but rather because WuZhiJing gave him three things he desperately needed: enough money to do his researches, influence on the black market which he needed to do good business, and protection from the law, since the mafia was a master at covering his tracks when needed. 

For several years his interests had shifted from the production of simple drugs to something else that promised much more profit: the illegal breeding and reproduction of hybrids through cloning experiments.

"As for you, Wu, your men haven't exactly covered themselves in glory, have they? I've been told that not all of the hybrids that escaped from the lab could be recaptured, is that correct?" Minghao's voice was icy, but the scientist didn't seem too bothered by it. 

"There won't be another mass breakout like this again, boss. The culprit has already been punished accordingly. But unfortunately you're right, a total of twenty-one animals escaped, three of them are still on the run. However, we assume that they already starved to death by now. It's a Dioptas and two of my cloned animals. It is possible that the Dioptas is still alive, it's intelligent enough to find himself some food. However, this does not apply to the two clones. We are still working on a quick learning program for them, but so far without success," reported Wu ruefully and Minghao pressed his lips together to form a narrow line.

Just a few weeks ago, when nearly two dozen hybrids had managed to flee from the laboratory disguised as a school in Gni Jieb, the media had, of course, plunged themselves like vultures onto the story. Fortunately, it wasn't leaked that the escaped animals were clones which were illegally produced there. Most of the animals had been captured by Wu's men at lightning speed before they could do much damage. Well, all except the three just mentioned.

Minghao didn't worry too much about the two clones. They were just cheap copies of real existing hybrids which were trained for years. They may look exactly like them on the outside, but the clones had the IQ of a newborn child. The Dioptas, however, was not a clone and therefore really dangerous for the whole operation. He was able to speak and knew enough internal information to bring down their newly strengthened organization. Should this hybrid somehow make it across the border to Aerok and, in the worst case, to its former master, Minghao's plan to take revenge on King Jinki for his father's death would fail before even starting.

"I want you to find this hybrid, dead or alive, Wu. He endangers the entire operation," Minghao hissed, looking at the scientist clearly agitated. "If the plan fails because of this Dioptas, I swear to you, my face will be the last thing you'll see while drawing your last breath. Did I made myself clear?" 

Usually, it wasn't Minghao's way to threat high-ranking members like Wu with death, but the scientist had to take the blame for the mistakes of his men. So Minghao had to choose sharp words if Wu didn't get his men under control endangering the plan as a result. "Got it, boss," Wu replied firmly and looked down at his hands which were resting on the table in front of him.

Wen Junhui - his most faithful follower, sat with a lot of papers right next to Minghao. He looked down at the files, a silver pen, ready to take notes already in his hand. He had been quiet so far, but now he raised his head to move on to the next point on the agenda. 

"Alright. As you all know, we're here today to discuss how we intend to proceed with our plan. Thanks to our connection with Prince Yixing we managed to re-enter the country unnoticed. Now our first priority should be to get as many men back to the front as possible," The pleasant voice next to him caused Minghao to look at Wen. "As you can see, I have various lists of former members who were imprisoned or disappeared after the fall of Xu Dàdì." He pulled a few lists from his folder and pushed them into the middle of the table. A few names were highlighted in a neon yellow color. "The marked members were spared by the raid three years ago and should be contacted first."

The three men reached out for the lists and skimmed over the names. "Thanks to Lu we already have contact with Seo Eunkwang, he helps us to bring down MinsiM. He has been working for the company for years and did some small errands for Dadi, so you probably didn't hear about him before. He may haven't been important back then, but at the moment he is of great benefit to us. The stolen ID chips have already earned us a considerable sum on the black market, which we urgently need to fund further projects," Minghao said, leaning back in his chair. "I want the entire hybrid market under my control because nowadays you can make more money with them than with weapons or drugs. Of course, that doesn't mean we should ignore these two markets."

"Do you know any of the marked names?" Wen asked and Lu nodded. "Kim Mingyu. I was working with him back then. He's a known thief and trickster. Specialized in squeezing money out of rich ladies leading them to believe he would really love them. I didn't know he's on the loose again. He had been dealing for me for about three years, with his good-looking face and charisma he constantly recruited new customers. He disappeared at some point and I was told he was caught by the police." He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

Lu Han, his father's third general had always been extremely useful. No one else was as well informed about all the members of the organization as he was. It was really difficult to keep track over several hundred men and nearly impossible to know who was connected to whom and in which way  
they were connected to WuZhiJing, but Lu was like a very useful little computer having a face and a story ready when needed after hearing a name. The talent to memorize faces so precisely and connect people had helped him to make a name for himself as the smartest dealer in the whole city, which is why he had been in Xu Dàdì's favor very early.

"Looks like he just disappeared for a short time. He has good connections to a lot of influential nobles, who surely saved his neck in the last minute," Minghao presumed with a smile. "He would be just the right man for one of my plans." Lu looked at his new boss with interest. "What plan are you talking about, boss?"

"We want to put him on Jeon to wrest the monopole from AHT," Wen replied to Lu's question. The eyes of the beautiful young man widened. "You mean Jeon Junior? It's gonna be extremely hard to target someone nobody knows how they look like, boss." Minghao smiled. "No, we want to target the less successful brother of Jeon, who always wanted some of his little brother's fame. He is known to the media because he tried to work as a model in the past, but was photographed by paparazzi with a man in a hotel bed, which ended his glorious career quite quickly," he erupted in a short cold laugh and the others at the table gave each other meaningful looks. When Minghao had calmed down again, he continued. 

"I want you to get in contact with Kim and put him on Jeon's big brother. It would be utopian to think that we have a chance to get the formula of Dionysos and the patent ourselves. AHT is a fortress. But with a little help from the inside..." He rested his chin in the palm of his hand and grinned. Wen nodded. "It is well known that the brothers don't get along very well. Kim might be able to persuade Jeon to steal his brother's formula. Of course, we could try to create our own formula in our lab, but that would definitely be too expensive." Minghao hummed in agreement. "Besides, we don't have that much time. I'd rather see the King dead today than tomorrow!" There was a short murmur of approval, then Wen reminded everyone why they were here and the meeting continued.

"So the big brother, of the celebrated genius Jeon, is gay, or why should we put Kim on him?", Lu asked with a skeptically raised eyebrow. "Oh, Lu he's as gay as you and I~," Minghao purred and saw Lu's cheeks turn a little pink. Huang and Wu cast a brief glance at Lu and twisted their mouths into a contemptuous grin. It was an open secret that Lu was not averse to the same sex. He had used his body often enough in the past to do good business, especially when he liked a business partner. "I don't know if Kim will agree like I said he... " Luhan cleared his throat and his eyebrows narrowed anxiously. "...I've only ever seen him with women before." 

"Offer him a chance of promotion. Tell him that he won't be longer a small fish if he does WuZhiJing this favor. If he gets us the formula, we'll pay him a lot of money. I think his victim's gender will be of secondary importance to him," Wen explained. Lu still didn't seem really convinced of the plan. "But what if Jeon won't get shaken off afterward?" All four men at the table started giggling and Lu looked confused from one to the other. Then he finally sighed. "Honestly, is it really necessary to kill everyone? I mean, what if Jeon would continue working for us after that? Haven't we been talking about needing more members for months?"

All eyes were on Minghao whose face had become very serious. "We'll think about it when the time comes, you're right, he could still be of use to us after stealing the formula. But you can't win everyone over for your side, Luhan. Otherwise, the police would never enjoy finding bodies in the forest, would they, Huang?", Minghao winked at the killer and he put on a big grin.

"What about the hybrid dealer Lee? The Aphrodite sell animals on a daily basis, the shop has an excellent reputation among the population. They say he's the best." Wen brought the attention to a column on the list where two more names were underlined. "At that time, WuZhiJing only needed him for information. But his business is flourishing. Not least because of the money he undoubtedly made through us. He has increased his sales tenfold in the last three years, so it is about time he expressed his gratitude to us. By selling the expensive little animals, he is like a thick spider in the center of a web stretched among the nobles. If necessary, he pulls at the strings here and there in order to obtain information and he will certainly be happy to share them with us if his life is dear to him".

"Lee? Is he related to the royal family," Minghao asked frowning and Wen nodded. "Yes, he is distantly related to King Lee the First. But that doesn't matter. Lee Senior may seem a little senile, but he knows how to do good business and he has passed this talent on to his son Hongbin, as we hear. Of course, he could work for us as an informant who tells us everything about all the events going on in the city, but there is something else I have in mind we could use him for. He's near to the source when it comes to hybrids because he always buys only the best animals from all schools in the country selling them profitably." 

Wu looked up again with interest and sat upright. "If he would give me the animals for a moment before he sells them...", he started and Wen grinned. "I see you're understanding, Wu. WuZhiJing could help out the Aphrodite with a little money so they could buy and sell even more animals. You will get the stem cells and the organization gets a share of the profit and information. Like this everyone gets something useful out of the deal." All those present nodded. "We...", Wu pointed to himself and Huang. "will get in contact with him and convince him to climb on the bandwagon," Wu muttered and asked Wen to give him the business card of the Aphrodite.

Huang, who had taken a list in his hand to study it, suddenly looked up. "Wang Jackson?" he asked in his dark, silky voice. "Isn't it said he betrayed Xu Dadi?" All eyes were on Wen and Minghao felt his stomach contract a little painful after hearing the name. 

"There is still no evidence that Wang actually changed sides and had something to do with the betrayal three years ago. If he's still loyal, he'd be the king on our chessboard." Minghao sneered contemptuously. "Yes, the King. How fitting[1]. But what if he really betrayed us back then? What if he's to blame for my father's death," he asked, and various emotions resonated in his voice. [1: the Chinese character for 'king' is called Wang written exactly like Jackson's last name]

He was clearly afraid to trust someone who might be a traitor. Of course, nobody knew exactly what finally led to the raid three years ago, perhaps his father had become careless after the murder of the King of Luoes and had therefore been caught, but he couldn't and didn't want to imagine it. Minghao had still been with his mother in Gni Jieb when they received the terrible news about the capture. His mother wasn't the same after his father has been killed. 

Snitches who escaped the raid all over Aerok and fled back to Anihc had reported that Wang was the traitor who caused the fall of the empire. Why else would he have stayed in the country even though he had to fear being discovered and executed as a public enemy? On the other hand, of course, Wen was right. If Wang wasn't a traitor but had kept himself covered all these years to avoid being arrested, he would be an important figure in their game for the throne.

"I will get in contact with Wang myself. He owes a lot to your father and should he really be the one who betrayed us back then, he will get what he deserves." Wen's hand around the pen closed so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Minghao put a hand on Wen's shoulder and almost painfully squeezed. Wen looked up puzzled. 

"Oh no, Wen. If it turns out that he is indeed the traitor, you will bring him to me. I'm dying to break every bone in his body and watch him writhe in pain like a snake at my feet. Did I make it clear?"

A ghostly silence took over the small room before everyone nodded in turn. 

*+*

That same evening Minghao was sitting on the bed in his room, leaning against the headboard. He had his arms wrapped around his legs, which he had pulled close to his body. The conversation today had upset him. It had reminded him of the loss he had suffered.

Since the murder of his father, he felt this all-consuming hatred for the royal family of Aerok in his heart. Everything in him screamed for revenge, but his mother just hadn't let him go, for fear she might lose him too.

He had buried her early last year on a cold, snowy January morning. She had been seriously ill for years and Minghao was convinced that the grief over her beloved husband's death had contributed to the disease progressing faster.

Now Minghao was alone. His mother couldn't hold him back any longer and he had nothing left to lose. He had tried to live a normal life while his mother had been still around, watching over him, but the thought of revenge had always waited like a small flickering flame in the farthest corner of his head for the time to flare up again and set his heart on fire.

He looked around in the shabby little room and sighed heavily. Minghao never lacked anything when he was a child. For a long time, he hadn't known how his father earned his money, but he had learned early that it wasn't good to ask too many questions about it. The men in shapeless black suits who had appeared day in, day out in their mansion with frozen faces to disappear into his father's office had been there for as long as he could remember.

Minghao had no friends, the only people he had a close relationship with were his parents, the private teachers, and Jun, who had been working  
for his father while being not much older than Minghao himself. 

When Minghao had finally turned twelve years old, his father had taken him along for the first time to do some business. It had been the execution of a man who had tried to kill his father. Of course, such a betrayal was punished with a death sentence within the organization.

Minghao could still remember how it had felt to stab the knife his father had handed him into the twitching body in front of him again and again. Until finally, after several minutes the screaming had died down with the man and made space for an eerie silence that settled over the warehouse.

Minghao's hands, face, and clothes had been sprinkled with the man's blood, but that day he had done something with his father for the first time in his life. His father's eyes were resting on him all the time and he had told all the men in the room how proud he was of his son and that this young boy would eventually inherit the empire he had built. 

Minghao had trembled like a leaf, but the proud words of his father had been balm for his soul. Until that day, he had always wondered why he saw his father so rarely and why he wasn't interested in him and his mother but only in work. He could have imagined at some point that there was something wrong with his father's job. For whenever he heard someone talk about it, people whispered, hectically looking around to see if they had been overheard by someone.

A single tear ran down Minghao's cheek. The memory of his father hurt. Xu Dàdì had been feared in the underworld all over Anihc.

Of course, there were moments in Minghao's life when he had wished to grow up in a normal family. One where he could go to school. Where he could make friends with people who had nothing to do with a dubious underground organization. On the other hand, so he asked himself and frowned, who exactly determined what was normal and what was not? 

Sure, his father always had little time because of his work and urging his 12-year-old son to commit murder would certainly not be on the top 10 list of things a father should do with his son but Minghao had never seen himself as a victim. He always felt safe and loved in the presence of his father and was it not exactly this feeling that mattered when it came to the word family?

There was a knock on the door and Minghao hastily wiped the tears from his face and sat up straight before he asked Junhui in. He knew it would be Jun because he had called him to this place for the late evening hours and the other one was always on time.

"Good evening, boss. " said the young man as he entered and Minghao frowned. "How many times do I have to tell you to not call me boss when we're alone, Jun?" "I'm sorry, you know, the force of habit," he muttered and scratched his head. "Come here," Minghao instructed while taping on the bed. 

Jun took a moment before he followed the order and sat down next to Minghao on the edge of the bed. "You wanted to see me? Is it about the meeting today?" he asked in a gentle voice while watching Minghao attentively. He held his gaze for a short moment before he sighed loudly before putting his arms on his knees to support his head.

"I have the feeling a storm is coming at us, Jun," he began in a whispering voice and Jun turned his upper body more in Minghao's direction. "What are you talking about?" he asked confused, but Minghao didn't answer immediately. 

"It's just, it took us so damn long to find these few people who want to avenge my father's death. At some point, I thought we'd never cross the border of this country, you know? And now that we've finally made it, it feels like there's a contact mine hiding under every step I take." A short silence followed before he asked in an even lower voice: "Do you think my father felt the same way when he first came to Aerok?" Jun didn't know how to answer this question, but apparently, Minghao didn't want to hear any answer, because he continued talking.

"This country is so close to ours and yet everything here feels so strange. I don't feel the security I felt in Anihc, Jun. I feel alone and powerless here." Jun grimaced at these words. "You're not alone, Minghao. And as long as we are all sticking at your side, you are anything but powerless," Jun explained, before sliding closer to the other one and gently putting his arms around his body. 

"It's impressive how much we've already accomplished this year. We were able to rebuild the old structures in Anihc and next, we will do the same here in Aerok. And once that's done, we'll go after King Jinki and make him pay for the murder of your father."

Minghao raised his head a little to put it on Jun's shoulder. He smiled sadly. "When you say it like that, it all sounds so easy, Jun. But what if I fail like my father?" Jun felt the younger one tremble under him at the thought. "I'm sure your father wanted you to become his successor and take revenge on the king, Minghao. There is no guarantee that our mission will succeed, but I assure you, I will remain by your side until the very end."

These words were followed by a long silence, but it was not uncomfortable. Minghao enjoyed being able to relax for a moment in Jun's protective embrace. Even without the words of the other, he knew that Jun would rather die for him than betray him and this knowledge helped him to adjust to the loss. At today's meeting, the wounds he'd been trying to heal in the last few months were ripped open again. The uncertainty about who of the men here in Aerok had finally betrayed his father caused him a stomach ache. They had to find the spy as fast as possible, otherwise, they ran the risk of being tracked down and executed as well.

Many of the men that fled to Anich had named Wang Jackson as the traitor when Minghao questioned them about the betrayal, but there was still no evidence of it. What if someone just wanted to blame Wang to divert suspicion from themselves? Many of the survivors believed he was the traitor, but Minghao knew better. Wang had always worked as an informant for them, at some point he even married a princess of the royal family so it wasn't that surprising he had escaped the raid back then. He really had no motive to betray them, right? Like Hongbin and Lu Han, he was one of the most important informants for WuZhiJing's success and he would have benefited most from the fall of the king and the rise of Xu Dàdì.

Jun had to meet up with Wang as fast as possible, to clarify if he was still loyal to the organization. Because either he proved that he had a clean slate and would start working as an informant under Minghao as well, or he simply had to disappear. Like this morning, his stomach contracted painfully and he felt sick, at the thought of Wang. Minghao didn't know Wang, had never met him in person, because the informant had always worked for his father here in this foreign country, but if he was the spy, he would get to know Minghao's darkest and cruelest side.

"Jun. . . can you. . . take my mind off things?", Minghao whispered into the silence at some point. Jun opened his embrace a little so he could look at Minghao's face. He saw that his eyes shimmered and were slightly reddened at the edges. Whatever it was that went through the younger one's mind, it obviously distressed him. Minghao, like Jun, had to learn at a very young age that it was a sign of weakness if someone showed feelings. The younger one didn't even shed a single tear at the funeral of his beloved mother. He had remained strong at the cemetery while being in public and had only given in to his grief in Jun's arms at night.

"I just want to forget, Jun. . . please." Minghao's voice was just a whisper, rough and broken like a dying man in the desert. It broke Jun's heart to see the other one so desperate. Evenings like these were extremely rare in their shared life. 

Minghao rarely asked Jun to take care of him. That he should take him out of himself. So he could forget for a short while what was bothering him. It was a great honor for Jun to be the one Minghao trusted like this. No one except Jun had experienced their leader in such an intimate moment. Minghao had forever bound Jun to himself using invisible chains with his sweet sighs and the glowing gaze in nights like these.

Jun was born into the criminal life of the underworld just like Minghao. He had not been able to choose between a normal life and a life on the dark side like many of the other members. Jun understood him better than anyone else. He knew how Minghao felt and what he needed the most. They shared a deep bond that went far beyond what other people would call love. It was a loyalty even beyond death.

Jun bent over and carefully raised Minghao's face with his hands to leave a soft, loving kiss on his lips. The kiss was gentle and short, followed by a second, slightly longer kiss, this time with more force. 

Minghao closed his eyes as he felt one of Jun's hands wandering along his ear and weaving his fingers into his hair. A satisfied sound escaped his throat. How long had they not been able to share this kind of proximity? Day after day they had worked tirelessly to repair his father's crumbling empire. Stone by stone they had rebuilt WuZhiJing in Anihc.

The members had been afraid to rejoin them. A weak small organization could be quickly tracked down and crushed by the police and no one was eager to live their lives in prison. Under Xu Dàdì, WuZhiJing had a fortune that had ensured that unwanted and dangerous people disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

The police hadn't been able to do much about it and were just as corrupt as all others anyway. After putting a wad of notes in their hands, most were ready to turn a blind eye on the organization. Those who were so stupid to oppose WuZhiJing, on the other hand, were walking on thin ice having often  
only a few days of their lives left to enjoy.

With Jun's help, Minghao had persuaded everyone to join him. The plan for his revenge was perfect. They lacked only followers and financial resources, which is why these two points were first on their agenda.

Jun gently pulled at Minghao's hair, making him tilt his head to the side to show him his beautiful neck. Minghao felt Jun leave a trace of feather-light kisses on his neck nibbling carefully at the sensitive skin here and there. Jun's second hand crawled under the younger's shirt and pushed it up until Minghao's chest lay bare in front of him. He began to play tenderly with one of Minghao's sensitive nipples who responded to the soft touch by holding his breath.

Minghao's hands, on the other side, started to move over Jun's body, because if someone would ask him Jun was clearly still wearing too much for his taste. He pushed Jun briefly off himself to wriggle out of his shirt, pulling it over his head, impatiently beginning to open the buttons of Jun's shirt right after.

"Well, seems like someone's in a hurry," Jun whispered amused before tenderly biting Minghao's earlobe and the younger one whimpered pathetically. Why did Jun know exactly how to drive him crazy? 

"You better shut up and help me," he mumbled with heated cheeks and hated himself because his desire was so clearly audible in his voice. Jun giggled softly, licking and nibbling at his earlobe, but opening his shirt as the other had told him.

"Happy now?" he asked with a mischievous grin, while finally removing the shirt off from his shoulders, not watching as it fell down from the bed to the floor with a quiet rustling sound. "Better, but far from enough," Minghao muttered before reaching out for Jun and pulling him down for another kiss.

*+* 

Jun lay exhausted but happy on the bed. Minghao in his arms played lost in thought with a sweaty strand of hair as he left a gentle kiss on Jun's naked chest.

"Thank you, Jun. I really needed that today," Minghao muttered and Jun watched delightedly how the other's cheeks turned pink. Cute.

"What? That I fuck the living hell out of you?" Jun grinned crooked and Minghao pinched him in the side. "Watch your mouth," he grumbled without a real bite in his voice and Jun laughed. "What now? Are you gonna bend me over your knee," he said, wiggling his eyebrows in a challenging way. Minghao's face lit up even more and he turned his gaze away offended and puffed.

Jun gently put one arm around the other and when Minghao snuggled up to him again Jun knew the other wasn't really mad at him.

It was quiet for a moment, then Jun cleared his throat. He had come to Minghao's room tonight not only because he had asked him to, but also because he wanted to tell him something that had been on his mind for a while now.

"Minghao? I really wanted to tell you about another investment I thought of lately, I could have mentioned it at this morning's meeting, but I didn't find a suiting moment and I wanted to get your opinion on it first." He began to gently caress Minghao's back. "An investment?" Minghao asked a little sleepy as he moved a little closer to Jun's warm body.

"Did your father ever tell you about the Choi brothers," Jun asked a little nervously, as always when he introduced one of his new ideas to Minghao. Usually, Minghao liked what Jun had planned out in his head, but in this particular case, he wasn't sure if his young boss would support the idea. Minghao seemed to think for a moment. There were not many members of WuZhiJing with the surname Choi and only one couple of brothers within the organization. "Yeah, they both went to jail, right?" Jun made a consenting sound.

"They were imprisoned for their connection with WuZhiJing because they were involved in business with drugs and prostitution. However, they received a ridiculously small prison sentence because they couldn't be proved to have known or been involved in the attack on King Lee. They both know how to do good business, but they were not involved in the murder. They're related to the royal family, so it wouldn't make sense if they were involved in a planned murder, right? I have heard they paid a lot of money for a really good lawyer and he got their sentence down to three years."

Minghao looked up into Jun's face. "Three years? You mean they're free again?" he asked, thinking about what Jun might be hinting at. "Do you want to hire them?"

Jun nodded his head back and forth. "I think it's hard in this country to establish oneself after a prison sentence, but as I said, they aren't dumb. I did some research and ended up on a website owned by them. They are running an erotic webcam site." Jun grinned, but Minghao just raised an eyebrow a little confused. 

"Jun, what is this investment you wanted to tell me about? How is it connected to the Choi brothers?" he asked, as he still didn't quite understand what this ominous website had to do with Jun's idea.

"So far only humans are working on this website. I thought about supporting the Choi brothers with some money. Because there's no webcam service out there yet where hybrids work," explained Jun to Minghao, leaning back a bit to have a better look at his face. "Ah, I think I know where this is going. But how can this help us with our plan?"

Jun smiled a little wider. If Minghao wanted more information about his idea and didn't put it off right away, there was a good chance he would agree in the end. "Well, you seem to underestimate how many closeted perverts there are out there. This website has an unbelievable number of daily viewers. They write in a chat what they want to see and when the boys show them what they want, there is not a minute without a high donation coming in."

"Wait a minute. . . boys?", asked Minghao raising his head interested.  
Until now he thought this was all about one of the countless erotic websites for lonely men. Where a busty young girl, with whom they never had a chance in real life, fulfilled their sexual fantasies.

"Yes, only young men are working at Eros. I know the brothels with hybrids are going exceptionally well, especially the establishment of Wang. The Papillon is booked out for several months in advance for a few hybrids. However, there are many men who don't want to be seen in such an establishment, although of course, they would have the money to buy a hybrid for one night." 

Minghao wrinkled his nose. Homosexuality was still a big issue even today. There were countless people who preferred to live a respected life with a woman and children and preferred to jerk off to naked men in front of the computer as soon as the woman was out of the house, instead of freely admitting that they were interested in men. The fact that there were mainly male hybrids for sale naturally played into the cards of these hidden homos, but only a few of them were able to buy a hybrid for themselves. "The idea is brilliant. Why didn't anyone thought of that before, Jun?"

"Probably because it's risky spending so much money on hybrids without being sure they are worth it. But I am firmly convinced that this idea is gonna be a goldmine. Of course, we have to make some investments first, but when the hybrids finally make a profit, the money is rolling in."

"How many hybrids have you thought of? Do you really want to buy them?" Minghao asked because usually WuZhiJing's would rather steal hybrids directly from their owners when they were inattentive. Then they brought them to Wu, who could create clones from the genetic information of the animals.

"We cannot take stolen animals. Even if there is only a little chance that the former owner of the animal will find them on Eros. The Choi brothers would get into trouble and the connection to us could be revealed. But we could certainly get a good discount on Hongbin if we buy a few animals at once," Jun continued, happy that Minghao had called his idea brilliant. 

"Wait, wait, wait. Just one moment. How many hybrids are we exactly talking about? You know it costs a fortune to buy the animals at the regular price, Jun. Even if Hongbin is back on our side by then, he will hardly give them to us for free," Minghao tossed in and Jun nibbled at his lower lip. He knew it was a risky game. But as they said so beautifully: no risk, no fun. They had to take advantage of the fact that there was no website with this service yet and exploit this gap in the market as long as possible.

"I'd say, three or four of them would be good to give a little variation to a broad mass of viewers right from the start. The Choi brothers get the start capital from us and use the money to choose some nice specimen. Then they teach them to read and respond to the chat, so they could fulfill the customer's wishes and in no time we'll have the money we spent on them back. If one of the hybrids causes trouble, or the viewers don't like one of them we can just replace it and find a new buyer for the one we want gone."

"I see you've had some thoughts about that, haven't you?" Minghao noticed and looked at Jun's face. Three to four hybrids. This meant they might toss a lot of money out the window if the idea didn't work out. On the other hand, it seemed like really a good idea. "What percentage of the money they earn us are you planning on giving to the Choi brothers?" Minghao asked with a smile and Jun felt relief wash over him. He had definitely passed the last hurdle. Minghao liked his idea and he would invest in it.

"Well, I thought we should do it like this..."

*+*

"Kim Wonshik?", asked the man, who could easily be recognized by his uniform as a policeman. He held up a badge formally. Jongin had informed Wonshik that someone was at the door for him. Wonshik just nodded to confirm his name and as it was the usual procedure, the officers introduced themselves.

"My name is Im Jaebum and this here is my partner  
Moon Bin. We're from the criminal investigation department. You reported two missing people a week ago, is that right?" The man's voice was strict and businesslike as if he wanted to get through this unpleasant matter as quickly as possible. He put the badge back in his chest pocket and his younger colleague followed suit. Wonshik nodded again. "Yes, I miss a cash transporter from my company and my two employees who were on board. Shin Donggeun and Kim Myungjun," he briefly explained what he had already put on record at the police station.

The two men looked at each other briefly and then nodded. "Two bodies were found in the forest this morning that we believe might be the missing persons you just mentioned. The wives of the two have already been informed, but they feel unable to identify the bodies. Would you be willing to accompany us to take over this task in their place", the business-like tone had diminished and now there was clear sympathy in the voice of the man. 

Wonshik felt a thick lump forming in his throat, he had heard on the radio about the discovery of the bodies but didn't make a connection between the news and his missing staff. "Identification? Isn't that only necessary when-", he broke off and the policeman grimaced. "Your right. The bodies are in a really bad condition, beaten up and so on. The victims wore no clothes and had no identification papers with them. A identification by the police is unfortunately not possible so we need someone to identify them for us."

Wonshik shuddered. He had reported his two employees missing when they had not returned from a routine trip to the bank. After asking the bank, he was told that the van had not yet arrived that day. Since then, the transporter and the two drivers were as if the earth had swallowed them up. He could not imagine that his otherwise very reliable and always correct employees could have run off with the money, which meant that the only possible reason was them being kidnaped. As there was no sign from the two men even after days, the police started assuming the worst. Apparently, this terrible suspicion had now been confirmed.

"Jongin?", Wonshik called for his butler, who stood at the big marble staircase a few meters out of sight of the police and waited for instructions, and he flinched when his name was suddenly mentioned. "Please bring me my jacket and shoes, I'll follow this two gentlemen to the police station."

Jongin quickly made his way through the lobby. Standing next to his master a short time later with Wonshik's coat and black leather shoes, polished as usual. He helped him put both on and handed him his cell phone. "Ah, thanks. I'll call you when you can pick me up again, alright?" Jongin just nodded a bit stiffly and bowed to the police before closing the door behind the three men who were already walking down the few steps in front of the mansion.

tbc~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the mafia is named WuZhiJing because I found a translation of it meaning Infinity which is the same for the name The8 so I thought it fitting. 
> 
> I know it's really confusing with all the new characters and hints to later parts of the story but just bear with it at the moment. Everything will make sense in the end.  
> Some things have on the other side been explained. MinsiM the company of Yoongis father is infiltrated by the mafia and the two employees of Wonshik have been killed by Zitao. And there is a lot of things coming up with the mafia being in the game again in the country of Aerok. 
> 
> I hope you still read and support the story. Thanks for all the comments and kudos~ <3 love u all.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have questions about the story please tell me~  
> Comments and kudos a highly appreciated! <3<3<3


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